Posts Tagged ‘parents’

How far does violence extend, how do we determine exactly who is responsible for the violence that children are seeing on television and in music.  What about video game’s, who is taking the responsibility for the violence and awful things that, are occurring right before the eyes of the youth today?  Many politicians are looking to eagerly blame the media and entertainment industry.  Is that the correct place to lay the blame?  Perhaps parents are the people ultimately to blame.

More parents today than ever before are working longer hours just to stay afloat financially.  This alone results in phenomenal numbers of children being left with a television as the babysitter in charge of teaching right from wrong.  How does a child learn the difference between right and wrong, when their parents are nowhere to be found?  Where does the parents’ responsibility to parent a child and the governments’ right to parent a child merge?

Does the government even have a right to parent children?  Should the government be allowed to determine what is appropriate for all children to watch, or should that be ultimately left up to the parents to decide on their own?  There have been television shows, movies, musical artists, and even books banned because the government does not approve.

Where is the line drawn in who controls what the children are watching?  Is it really up to the parents, or is it left to the children to decide on their own?  When did parents lose the ability to control what their child watches, and when did the parent become subject to the child’s own opinion?  While some advances in technology have been wonderful, there is also much effort by the government to control what a parent does with their own child, and it is this more than anything that has caused controversy on a civil liberties basis.

There have been several inventions and developments that are able to help parents monitor their children; from the v-chip to programs that log instant messenger programs.

These developments are great for the parents looking to monitor their child themselves, but what about the music industry.  Most parents are constantly told that the violence their child is exposed to is the fault of the music industry.  The blame is placed on the singers and producers for releasing the music.

Much blame is placed everywhere but the parents for taking responsibility for their own children and determining what is best for them.  With politicians attempting to punish some area of the entertainment industry each time a national tragedy occurs, it puts a major crimp on the ability of parents to decide for themselves what is acceptable for their child and what is not.  Many are left to allow their child to choose from the options that are left, once the government has omitted the choices that are bad.

Is this censorship, or helping raise children?  Many seem to think it leans heavily towards censorship, a place the governments should not be treading.  Many others tend to feel that it should be a high priority of the government to protect everyone from something that can potentially be bad, without even giving people the option to make their own decisions.

The issue as to what extent the government should intervene with the way in which we live our lives is hotly contested, and it works in a much larger circle than just the control of our children.  Should the government take a step back, and allow society to use its freedoms and powers for self regulation, or is there a need for intervention to ensure the greater good and justice for the welfare of society as a whole?  For the time being, it seems as though the most pragmatic approach relates somewhere in the middle, although it will be interesting to see developments in this area over the coming years.

Education is one of the most beautiful and important forms of love. However, it requires courage. Parents often take a kind of “shortcut” giving to their children what is easy and expensive, avoiding what is really necessary.

Education starts with feelings, gestures, and authenticity. Setting rules with speeches is not educating, but taming a child. Mothers and fathers should be like the light that illuminates a dark room.

A child feels lost when he doesn’t know where to go has no limits and definitions. Physical security is as important as the psychological one. Feeling safe is also feeling understood, accepted and embraced, not only protected from material hazards. Security has also to do with being helped to understand the world and understand oneself.

During a lifetime, parents will be the North Star for their children. Becoming aware of what this means reflecting on the quality of the relationship we have with them.

What are the values that guide our lives?
What kind of people we are?

We live in times of transition. Maternity and paternity are no longer pre-established models. Being a mother and a father is a human condition that is entering a new phase of creation and discovery. But, still children need something solid and reliable.

Children think what they have is cool! The truth is you can use this to fact to inspire your children intellectually and artistically.

For example I am currently teaching my 6 year old niece to read, skipping back I have not seen her since she was a baby as I lived in another state. She knew her abc’s and her phonics fairly well but could not read. Straight to the point I had her reading in days and everyone was so impressed especially my niece. But how did I do it is the real question, I changed the environment in her house, and we removed the TV because TV damages the developmental process of neurological developmental process. Then I used TV as a reward for reading. I replaced the TV with books in a fun way. I bought computer programs with games, DVD’s, books, logged on to internet reading sites… basically her and I together made her life letter, words, books and reading; in a very light hearted way. The point is, is that she is a child she will do what is provided in her environment as long as it fun (So Make it Fun!!) so we made her environment fun reading. Therefore she now reads. This can be done for any subject, and the arts saturate the environment and the child will regurgitate what is shown.

The hardest thing for most parents to admit is that children are only a product of their environment… mainly. So when we see our children failing in school, or being a nuisance around the house, it’s hard for us to except that the child was once a blank slate and is only what we helped them to become. All that being said, change the environment around your child and you will change your child’s future, many people over complicate this matter, meaning their environment is your house so change your house into what you desire your child to become. Children think what they have is cool! So if what they have is books, they won’t know the difference between that and a video game.

There are parents who allow their small children to run wild. Once when I was shopping in the   mall, I saw this little boy, darting in and out of the garments on the rack. I thought to myself he could fall and hurt himself, or he could wander off and somebody could snatch him. I waited and finally, I saw a well dressed young woman walking in my direction. I approached her and said to her that somebody could snatch her child. She grabbed him by the hand, never said thank you, and gave me a look as if to say, mind your own business. She probably has never seen those programs about missing children so she has no real gut feelings about what could happen to her child.

On another occasion, I observed a child who had been precariously placed in a shopping cart. I was thinking that any moment now this cart is going to topple over and the child will fall and hurt himself. I thought about approaching the parent, but I figured I would better mind my own business. I hurried away from that area since I did not want to witness a pending catastrophe.