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I saw this cartoon, and for some reason, it struck a chord!
Sometimes when I watch children and young adults, I can't help but think:
"These are the people that will be in charge when I am old and vulnerable."
They don't get taught how to excel, or even try. They don't learn how to handle disappointment. They don't learn good sportsmanship. We have a generation of sore losers. They get trophies for merely showing up, teachers are told not to use red ink, or fired for giving a child a 0. Then the kids get to high school/college - and take guns to school when they get a bad grade or get bullied. Or they commit suicide. Some things in life hurt - they need to get used to it.
Parents seem to want to save them from all the childhood hurts, both mental and physical. I think this is a disservice to the children. At least in part, it's the pains of childhood that teach them to be an adult. How do you learn to pick yourself up if you have never fallen down?
Along with trophies and not using red ink, the parents seem to be trying to child-proof the world. Someone fell off the monkeys bars when they were a kid, legislature happens , no more monkey bars. Too many kids got got smacked in the face with a tether-ball, no more tether-ball. We fell off the jungle gym and hurt ourselves, so no more jungle gyms. The concrete in the playground has been replaced with a spongy rubber to keep them from scraping a knee. (They actually make swings with "seatbelts" so the kids can't jump off and hurt themselves.) Kids need to run and play and suffer small injuries! I think it's these little hurts in life that get you mentally ready for other pain. (How will they handle gall bladder surgery?! Probably with opioids .)
I remember hearing somewhere that the reason we teethe so young is because the pain is so intense, it would either kill an adult, or drive them mad. Babies have no frame of reference for pain, so they can handle it. They know it hurts, but not how much.
When their parents are not spoiling them rotten, they go totally the other way, and just ignore them. So involved with their phone that the child's head could be on fire, and they'd never notice.
And if the child is doing something dangerous, you can't say anything, or you get yelled at!! "Gee, lady, I'm sorry I told your child to stay in the shopping cart. Please don't yell at me - I promise I will let the next child crack their head open. Is that better?"
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