I've been so troubled this past week by things going on in this world. Not even this world, but in my city, my country. It makes me sad that this is the way things are going. My heart breaks and mourns for my son's generation, and every generation after because we're losing some fundamental values - like compassion and respect.
Earlier this week, a friend of mine who is almost seven months pregnant was walking across the street, when she was hit by a car. Now, she's fine, completely fine. But the point is, the guy who hit her rolled down his window and yelled, "Sorry..." as he drove away. One witness didn't stop but asked if she was okay as he passed on by. Even the police didn't feel the need to investigate - because she wasn't in a coma or worse... I guess they're too busy arresting people for having parking tickets and such.
A friend of mine wrote on her fb page that a car was in the middle of an intersection blocking traffic. Car after car after car drove past, not bothering to see if they needed anything. My friend stopped to see if she could help, only to find one of the passengers was having a seizure. Everyone else just drove on by...too busy or just not bothered enough to care.
Five children (that we know about) in Canada in the past year have committed suicide over claims that they have been bullied to the point of no return. The victims of bullying. Let me state the obvious for what I will say next maybe will shock some. It is horrible, horrible, horrible that anyone thinks it's okay or derives any delight from belittling, teasing, or hating someone else. Especially to the point where someone thinks the only out is to kill themselves. It's horrendous.
However, it's also horrendous that no one thought to do anything about it until these children killed themselves. All these anti-bullying commercials, in my opinion, glorify the bullying and glorify the bullying. Instead, let's teach these children how to defend themselves (with words, of course), how to stick together. Let's teach children self worth, so that when they're met with adversity - they know otherwise. Let's teach children that shitty things are going to happen in this world, that not everyone wins, that succeeding in life is really, really hard work. Let's teach them that failures happen. Let's help them find somewhere to fit in. If I had tried to fit in with the popular kids in high school, I would have been teased for sure. Instead, I found a small group of like minded souls who enjoyed the same things I did, who had my back - and so it didn't matter when people laughed at me, or said something bad about me. They weren't my people and so what they thought didn't matter. And to this day, it does not matter.
Then let's teach them how to get up, brush themselves off and try again. Let's show them what competition looks like and how to practice even harder when they lose. Let's show them how to work hard, fail, work harder, fail, work harder and fail again. Because it seems to me, kids don't know what adversity is. Everyone gets a ribbon at the race, because everyone showed up.
What worries me even more is that I fit into this group just as much as anyone else. I try to shield my child from everything, because isn't that my job as a parent? Q thinks bullying is when someone thinks something other than him. "S wanted to play on the swings at recess, but I said no, I want to play soccer. He's such a bully."
Dinner with some friends this week was also quite enlightening. No longer can anything with any inkling of Christianity be in a public school. I understand the separation of church and state, whether I agree with it or not, but you cannot even mention Santa anymore. Children refuse to stand for the National Anthem, because it's not theirs or because it mentions God in it.
But...
These same schools will equally celebrate Eid, Ramadan, Chinese New Year, Diwali, and Vashaki. Don't get me wrong...I don't mind this, and even welcome it, because it's so fascinating to learn about other cultures. The problem that I have is that our culture is becoming *offensive* in our own schools, our own country. Our culture is slowly being erased.
What's going on?
How do you make a difference in a world where people no longer care?
Where do you even begin?
How do you teach your children to care?
What do you teach your children?
I think we're teaching our children to be pansies. We're teaching them to give up when the going gets hard. We're teaching them not to stand up for what they believe in, because we're not doing it ourselves. We're leading by example. We're walking by people who need our help without a second glance. We're every man for himself. It makes me so sad.
