Thanks to the snow day today (which I feel was somewhat unnecessary), yesterday was my last day at work. Because of changing schedules and financial situations, I won't be returning to my job with the YMCA after Christmas break.
So I've been reviewing what I've learned this past semester in the presence of these kids. The conclusion I have come to is that the age of innocence no longer truly exists in this selfish, chaos-ridden, morally declining world. I realize that I grew up in a state of relative naivete, not knowing or caring about "adult" topics, like swearing or using the middle finger or liking the opposite sex or watching movies with anything other than a PG rating. I led a sheltered childhood, protected from the world of divorce, abuse, homosexuality, drinking, drugs, and any other toxins that may have invaded my young, impressionable soul.
But the kids in my program weren't so lucky. I had a 5-year-old get a detention for saying the F word in his classroom. I had a first grader tell me she had to go to court and pick which of her parents she loved more to decide who to live with. She told me she was going to pick her mom because her mom loved her more; when I asked her if she loved her dad, she said, "No, because he doesn't really want to be a dad." Almost half of the kids were from divorced families, with step-brothers and sisters coming out the wazzoo. I had an 8-year-old ask me if I had seen the movie The Day After Tomorrow, assuring me that it wasn't scary; he would know, he watched it. I had a 7-year-old get an iPod with the new Indiana Jones movie installed on it for his birthday. I had an 8-year-old who couldn't read, spell, or do math problems; who bit my assistant's arm; who hurt other kids; who couldn't control his anger; who was really only looking for some positive attention most of the time. Virtually none of my kids knew how to respect an adult or listen when another person was talking.
I really and truly fear that we are entering a state where morals and values are going to change significantly; that right and wrong are going to become more black and white, and therefore more controversial. Perhaps my standards are set too high; perhaps I have unrealistic expectations of childhood based on my own experiences; perhaps the world is going to hell in a handbasket. I do think there is hope for all of our kids, but this society, this generation is making it hard to find amid the vulgarity and outright meanness running rampant in schools today. I don't want to shield my kids from the world, but I want them to know what certain words mean: respect, honor, boundaries. I want them to be safe and happy and somewhat ignorant of the underside of humanity, at least for a little while.
Don't kids deserve to have an age of innocence?
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5 comments:
i totally agree with all of this
its why im considering adopting poor kids who were already born and are going to be living a crappy life if a good parent doesnt step in.
its tough, thats for sure
This is a huge part of what keeps me holding on to Jesus. Without him (or without at least a transcendent source of morality), we're left to wallow in a cespool of our own selfishness and hatred, with only a thin veil of ideology separating us from absolute moral collapse. God help us...
I think that age is gone (unfortunately). Some "parents" just don't want to accept their job to raise their children to be respectful and honoring, instead letting the media and society do that work, and it always turns bad.
I think many other parents are just so tired from either trying to survive the American Dream, or trying to better it. The first group is stuck in being a "have not" and are trying to make the best of it. I think you will find many parents that are in that group really try to be good parents and do a decent job - some just fail, but only because of what they are up against. The 2nd group, they try to better it, forget that it is more important to raise a good child than to make sure they drive a Lexus and live in a big house.
And I think the last group of parents try to be their child's best friend. Your kid doesn't need you to be their friend - you need to be their parent. It might suck, but they will be grateful for it (when they are older).
Charissa,
Unfortunately there are a lot of bad situations out there involving parents who are either divorces and out of the house, or are just no present spiritually, and emotionally even they are there physically.
I would take heart in the fact that if you become a parent you will be able to positivly influence your children who will when they grow up postivily influence the society we live in.
Really that's how most of what we call change happens...person to person..
all with the grace and help of God of course.
w/o him we'd all be toast anyway.
dylan higgins
the church needs to remember it's not about black and white, it's about light and dark.
We can find transcendent morality in whatever we choose to be transcendent, I think the key for the church to understand is, it's not about tolerance it's about loving people into light.
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