In lieu of the recent tragedy at VT, I have been thinking a lot about what this world has come to, about how awful it would be to be a teenager in this day and age. Childhood is supposed to be a time of innocence and happiness, going through life without a care in the world. Instead children today have become angry, untrusting, callous individuals who think that it is acceptable to use physical force or violence to get what they want or to belittle those that are different. But who can blame them? Look at the state of America today...and throughout history. The US has always used physical force and violence in order to gain control over those that are weaker. Take the senseless war that we are involved in at the moment. Why are we there again? And for those die-hard Bush Lovers who think that this is because of 9/11...think again. That is not why we are there. Iraq had no part in what happened on that tragic day. We are there because Bush didn't like the way their country was being run, and yes things were exactly humane at times, yes Saddam was a very nasty man,...we helped him get to where he was at...but things are in total disarray now that we have changed their entire way of living, we have ruined their entire country. Now...don't take this as I don't support the troops, because that is NOT the case. They have NO say in the matter. All of their orders come from the top...they are just doing their job. But back on track now....this type of "do things our way or we will kill you" attitude has been prominent throughout all of US History.
Why is it so hard for most people to accept diversity? Diversity is what makes the world such a wonderful place. All of the medical and technological advances throughout history came from somebody who was strong enough to be different. Children are often afraid to be different for fear of the harassment that they will face at the hands...or mouths....of their peers. We as a society make it just as hard on those that are diffrent. Different is unknown, Americans fear the unknown. When we are frightened Americans resort to what we know best, violence. Violence is never the answer, you may feel that you have solved the problem, but it's still there people are always going to be different. The only way to overcome the fear is through education or knowledge.
Taunts, Threats, Violence, Vindication, Guns, Tragedy.....Face it folks, this is a common occurrence in schools across America. Columbine, Virgina Tech, The Amish School, SA Middle ...yes our conservative, mainstream, suburban school. Our tiny little community is a pawn in this game as well. Today we learned of a bomb threat for tomorrow (Friday)...which is more than likely some kid playing a prank....but you can never be too certain anymore. Nobody is safe.
What happened to the innocence of our children? I will tell you what happened, bigger houses, bigger cars, so called better lives that we as parents and a society think that we need. Now don't get me wrong, I want my children to have a better life than I had. But that better life does not have to include a car that costs more than the average Americans' annual salary or a house that is so huge that you have to use an intercom system to talk to your family. Basically this bigger is better attitude that we as a society have adopted is essentially pushing our families away. The days of gathering around a hot home cooked meal and discussing the events of their days are long gone, giving way to tedious work schedules and/or extracurricular activities. This so called better life that we are persuing comes with a cost, a HUGE cost, our childrens' innocence. Is it really worth it?
In the case of one of the Columbine shooters, his father called in voicing concern over that fact that he thought his child was doing the shooting. Ok...he was concerned at the time of the shooting...but where was he in the months prior. Why was he not concerned about his child before this horrific incident took place? Parents need to be more involved in their childrens' lives. It is your responsibility as a parent to protect your child, whether that be from a pedophile or themselves.
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