Wednesday, June 19, 2024
Now, there’s a word that children and teenagers aren’t used to anymore! Apparently, for kids to grow up and be productive and successful, they must not have any negativity in their lives. They don’t lose at sports anymore; they don’t have to listen to anyone, especially their parents. They are treated with kid gloves. How can one love and want the best for their children and not teach them about winning and losing and all the disappointments that are in store for them? You have college students claiming that they’re suffering from PTSD because certain subjects traumatized them! Seriously? PTSD? If I were the parent paying for their tuition, I would immediately disown them, and I’m serious about that.
The Surgeon General of the United States has called for social media to be labeled a health hazard for young people. The incident in Santa Cruz, where that kid was accosted by a gang of kids, his peers, and apparently thugs, began with cyber bullying. Cyber bullying has resulted in kids and young people committing suicide, even in the Jewel. Parents are busy enough, and can’t supervise their children’s websites, which opens up a whole new can of worms. They consume all the violence, the disinformation, the most disgusting and mind-altering garbage that social media feeds them daily!
I read somewhere once, that a child with social media access is comparable to your child being downtown alone at 2:00 in the morning, susceptible to all the dangers that present themselves, especially predators and con artists, with no protection! That in itself should make any parent wary of the consequences of not saying, No!
And let’s not forget all the academic cheaters who won’t put in the work to research their assignments, but just google, copy and paste, or use AI.
I don’t know if they will ever try to, and I mean, try to, control children’s yearnings to keep up with the rest, to not lose out on the instant gratification that social media provides. It is a drug, a very dangerous drug that leads to addiction, bullying, and can even cause serious mental problems, and heaven forbid, death. All because you couldn’t say no, to your kids!
I remember in high school, the Rev. Caleb Cousins would invite me into his office for 6 at best, at least 4 times a year. I’m referring to being punished by the principal and being caned with this rod, as you bent over a chair. He would have you count out the lashes. You couldn’t sit down for a while after that; your tush was too sore! That was a form of saying no, radical but effective in curbing my enthusiasm to be an idiot! I’m grateful for being checked and also knowing that misbehaving had consequences, sore ones!
Today, discipline is as rare as honest politicians. We want our kids to love us; we want to be friends. Thus, we are suffering the consequences of abandoning our duties as parents. Give your kid a dumb phone, so he/she can use it for emergencies! Do not allow them media access! Is that so hard to do? In the immortal words of Nancy Reagan, Just say No!
“‘But ma, I don’t want to go to America!’
‘Shut up and swim!’”
— Anonymous
Glen