Sometimes I look around me and wonder what the heck those who were responsible for shaping our society were thinking a couple of generations ago. If a man is what he thinks, what were the lawmakers who came up with the ordinances and bills that govern our current society? Every once in a while, life gets to be a bit ridiculous for me and I have to rant. When that happens, I will add a "What Were They Thinking?" blog. This is one of those times, so here goes:
Whose idea was it to take discipline out of the hands of parents? If that wasn't enough, these same people took God and paddling, along with just about every other kind of boundary out of the schools, leaving total discipline in the hands of the parents who don't have much more leverage than the teachers do? Who is disciplining America's kids? What were they thinking? Belief in someone or something bigger than you is what keeps people in line. These are the things that provide boundaries necessary for the proper growth of human beings--mentally as well as physically. Where boundaries exist, self-control is promoted and maturity is nurtured. Without them, loss of self-control is inevitable (read The Lord of The Flies By William Golding). Because children LACK the natural ability to control themselves, adults have been historically responsible for them. Adults are responsible for introducing to children the societal rules of control that develop self-controlin the younger generation. Now that most of the control has been removed from all adults in nearly every situation, who is helping the children to know their boundaries? Without boundaries, there can be no balance, so if you remove the necessary boundaries from the lives of children, the end result will be people--children and adults alike--who are imbalanced. If you think this doesn't make sense, go to a mall and pay attention to the interactions between today's parents and their offspring. You will see many exasperated parents with crying, screaming, out of control children because most parents lack good skills and, what's worse, are afraid to discipline--especially in public.
If that doesn't do it for you, talk to your local pharmacist about the number of anti-anxiety, anti-depressant, chemical balancing prescriptions they are filling each month. You will find that there are more psychotropic medications ( those affecting the mind, emotions and behavior) being distributed now than ever before. Proponents of medical maintenance will say that there are disorders in existence now that hadn't been discovered in the past. As someone who worked in mental health professions for years, I can tell you that it's the lack of mental safeguards that should be instilled in children by their parents and caregivers (including teachers) at an early age, and that if parents aren't willing to set boundaries for their children, they will have to buy drugs that will.
Imbalanced children just grow up to be imbalanced adults. "No" in the life of a child is as important as "yes". It provides balance. Reprimand is as important as encouragement. Punishment is as important as reward. Without balance, it doesn't matter who you are, how much you make, what color your skin is, the affluence of your neighborhood, where you work or what you own, your children will pay a hefty spiritual, mental and/or emotional price! ADD/ADHD--Attention Deficit (Hyperactivity) Disorder: who was not paying attention to their children's needs and how far down through the generations has this gone? In every case, with a little investigation, it can be discovered that someone dropped the ball. Spiritual/mental/emotional disturbance is what happens when a person's mind fragments or breaks down. A person's mind fragments when he/she feels unsafe--fear and uncertainty are major culprits here. When a person feels unsafe, he/she will reach for whatever he/she believes will bring security--real or make-believe; in the physical realm or the spirit realm. In older children and adults, that security may come in a glass or prescription bottle. It may come prescribed or sold on the streets. For far too many, security comes when there is an escape from reality.
Before medicating yourself or your children, pay attention! Set some boundaries. The sooner the better. If you don't feel you can, solicit help from someone you can trust--someone who has demonstrated know how in childrearing.
I think the people who were instrumental in taking control out of the hands of the parents thought it was the right thing to do, but who were they? What did they think? Did the think the rest of us had nannies like they did? Because whoever they were, they were obviously NOT raising their own children. Now ours are messed up! (yea, yea, I know there are people out their who have perfect children unaffected by our messed up society. Find out what your children are doing when you're not around! Even if your system of parenting is flawless, your children are being forced to grow up in a flawed society. Not only that, they have genes and bloodlines that you don't know everything about! ALL were born in sin and shaped in iniquity. Don't be so smug, thinking that your kids are perfect. There's no such thing.
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