Topic: Sad we can not make the world safer for little ones
annxyzz
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 20404
posted
As a child in 1963 , I was horrified to see the president shot to death . I could imagine nothing more evil or vile . THe assasssination had a profound effect on my view of the world as a second grader who could read the Dalla News.
Now I am 57 with a 1 y.o. granddaughter , Emma. I feel terribly sad that there appears to be nothing we can do to prevent terrorism like the situation in Boston. I am at a loss as how we can improve this country for our children, and grieve at the prospects of the road of life ahead for them.
It seems we are so powerless , with foreign enemies and a land full of sick and evil people .
-------------------- annxyzz Posts: 1178 | From East Texas | Registered: May 2009
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posted
I know. It's really sad. Our world needs to know that:
No God, no peace. Know God, know peace.
-------------------- --Lymetutu-- Opinions, not medical advice! Posts: 96222 | From Texas | Registered: Feb 2001
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desertwind
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Member # 25256
posted
Yes, some people of the this world have become anything but human....The hatred is seeping into all areas of the human experience and effecting even the very very young.
A very sad realization....
Posts: 1671 | From Tick Infested New Jersey | Registered: Apr 2010
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posted
I blame (in part) violent television, movies, and video games.
-------------------- --Lymetutu-- Opinions, not medical advice! Posts: 96222 | From Texas | Registered: Feb 2001
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beaches
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Member # 38251
posted
Life is so different today than what it was back in the day.
My mom used to say that she wouldn't want to be raising children in this day and age and that was well before 9/11!
The fact that there is violence all around us--TV shows, movies, video games surely doesn't help.
And unfortunately for some kids, that's all they know/do for a good part of their day.
We were always in the habit of immediately switching the channel when violent scenes were shown on TV and covering the kids' eyes when violent previews were being shown at the movies.
Who would think you'd have to do those things while attempting to watch a family show or movie?
I can't wrap my head around all the hatred, destruction and terrorism that will surely confront the next generation.
The only thing within our power is prayer.
For now though, I just have to focus on getting my family well.
Posts: 1885 | From here | Registered: Jul 2012
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posted
I am really concerned about the impact of all this violence on young ones too - well, anyone, for that matter! We need to be always teaching ways to de-escalate violence, defuse it, express feelings nonviolently, etc.
Posts: 13116 | From San Francisco | Registered: May 2006
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posted
I think about this frequently as I have a little one and my career has me seeing the worst of what is happening in our neighborhoods.
I remember growing up and being able to walk around a small city (pop around 40k) and walking around with my friends alone when we were about 9 or 10.
Now that same city has shootings and every other thing, seems like the decline of the human race.
Posts: 80 | From US | Registered: Aug 2011
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beaches
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 38251
posted
I recently took my daughter back to the "old neighborhood" but that's a story for another thread!
My siblings and I were playing on the streets from the time I was 5 years old. We had to play at a particular spot where my mother could pop her head out the window every so often to check on us.
As the oldest, I walked my sister and brother to school beginning at age 9.
I can't say it was like living in Mayberry or wherever that Andy Griffith show took place.
We were very street-smart and always prepared for whatever came our way, despite the fact that we were young kids. Of course, that was way before 9/11.
The challenge today is finding the balance. We must make our kids saavy and street-smart and aware of the current world environment so they can navigate their future.
And as parents, we also have to comfort them and reassure them that things will be OK. How the heck can you do that? I don't know. It depends on their ages.
I tell mine that there is evil in the world. I tell them to pray for those who have been victimized. I tell them to stand up and speak out for what they believe in. I tell them to say their prayers.
Posts: 1885 | From here | Registered: Jul 2012
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Rumigirl
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Member # 15091
posted
quote:Originally posted by Lymetoo: I know. It's really sad. Our world needs to know that:
No God, no peace. Know God, know peace.
Ahhhh, Lymetoo, that's great!!!
I have to remind myself at times like this, when I cannot believe man's inhumanity to man (and animals), that truly the vast majority of people are good and caring people.
Unfortunately, those that aren't can create an awful lot of suffering for others though.
All of us remember that life wasn't like this when we we grew up (at least those of us beyond a certain age). It's appalling how things have descended into this much violence.
In reference to your comment, Lymeto, I think about all the churches in my city that either have become way smaller, or that have been converted into co-ops, stores (!!), etc. Sad.
Posts: 3771 | From around | Registered: Mar 2008
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posted
Teaching and modeling our values sends young people into the world better prepared, but it doesn't address the breakdown in positive relationships in others.
So many adults want to be friends rather than parents. Exposing young kids to violence, disrespect, and just making fun of others through behavior, entertainment (some call some of the most distasteful items this), and interaction with people causes desensitizing and disconnect.
Playing outside from sunup do sundown no longer seems the norm, at least it hasn't been for our almost grown kids. Knowing all your neighbors is no longer true either, at least at the level I grew up with.
Fun is momentary. Joy is solid and comes from faith (I believe). And from faith comes hope, something so many people seem to be searching for.
-------------------- 'Hope' is a thing with feathers, that perches in the soul-- Emily Dickinson Posts: 160 | From Indiana | Registered: Nov 2012
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In reference to your comment, Lymetoo, I think about all the churches in my city that either have become way smaller, or that have been converted into co-ops, stores (!!), etc. Sad.
- That would really be sad to see but I know it's happening everywhere. People think they don't need God anymore.
Remember, we are small fish in a big pond. The good of humanity is still there. Think of all the GOOD things and all the GOOD PEOPLE we have on this earth! Focus on the good.
With another explosion and more deaths today, it's hard to focus on the good, but we must.
-------------------- --Lymetutu-- Opinions, not medical advice! Posts: 96222 | From Texas | Registered: Feb 2001
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posted
I would love for my son to wake up, go outside with his friends/family, return for lunch, go back out until dinner, go back out until bed time.
This is how I grew up, playing all day in the woods with my brothers and neighbors. We would spend full days by the river and afternoons playing baseball.
To be completely honest though, my son is four and after my wife and I having lyme and becoming so paranoid we have inadvertently taught him not even to walk in the grass.
Between that and the fact that most parents are raising their children without morales, manners, or respect for others.
Then add in the drastic raise in crime in even rural neighborhoods in the past ten years even, it's truly a scary place to raise a child.
Posts: 80 | From US | Registered: Aug 2011
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posted
I know, BleedG.. I grew up playing outside all day. We came in for supper, and went right back out.
It's a shame. I grew up in a large city that seemed "small." We felt safe.
-------------------- --Lymetutu-- Opinions, not medical advice! Posts: 96222 | From Texas | Registered: Feb 2001
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annxyzz
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 20404
posted
When I went to 1st grade we sang "The Doxology " and said a prayer at lunch. We had a silent prayer every morning with the principal over the P A system. I walked miles and miles all over Dallas and never felt afraid .
I did not really know what sex was til about 7th grade . I did not know what abortion was or what "gay " was til almost high school .
My idea of a great summer day was being in first-fifth grade and riding the bus downtown Dallas with my grandmother to see an ELVIS movie . Then we might shop and get a burger and ride back home. I would get excited about paper dolls, going to the library , playing jacks or pick up sticks, and watching Shirley Temple movies with kool aid and cookies.
The thought of having sex ( or watching sex) even in high school was far from my mind and of my closest friends. I read a book in college to educate myself about the specifics of sex ! ( And yes I was normal and even class favorite and a cheerleader !) . Now there are kids having oral sex on the bus in 8th grade where I live ! I did not fear pedophiles constantly as I have with my children . I had no idea what porn really was either . We did not have drive by shootings, home invasions, identity theft , drug stores constantly robbed for narcotics, or a fear of being shot in the classroom . Nor did kids call teachers curse words EVER ! We played outside a lot ,and also played lots of games like monoploly or clue and read many books. We would have contests to read the most books in a year . None of us sat around a lot . We were always moving, and rarely feared our neighbors . The world did not seem dangerous .
A shocker : I did political volunteer work a few years ago . There was a gentleman in our group who appeared like a nice man . One day , out of curiousity I looked up the local sex offender register and a map of the offenders. It seemed like the whole dam- town was FULL of offenders !! I was blown away at the number , but glad they were posted. I had only figured thee would be a few offenders in a small town of 80,000 . To my shock , one of my co volunteers was an ex offender who had spent years in prison for raping a 10 y o girl. He had been in my home for meetings ! I think the internet , porn , violent video games, and violent movies are harmful. It really KILLS me to think a little six year old would go to school and have all of the kids and the teacher be shot 10 times in the face . I can not get past the idea that a school is a dangerous place for an innocent child .
If I had a little one lost to a bomber , I literally fear what I would do if I could get my hands on him and I am afraid of guns and despise violence.
How do parents ever wake up and have a good day after losing a child the way the CONN parents did at Sandy Hook ? And how do we make the world safer for our children? It seems so impossible yet so necessary .
Our children have been robbed of so much !
-------------------- annxyzz Posts: 1178 | From East Texas | Registered: May 2009
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