Children are such sponges. Every new experience is an opportunity to learn, expand minds, pretend, play and evolve. I hope as a parent to tap into their impressionable minds to instill values, morals, and encourage an ability to reason through life's gray areas.
I remember, as we all do, September eleventh vividly. I was visiting my family in California, with my then 5 month old baby girl, while B was here in Wisconsin, unable to break away from our newly acquired business. The following days were a whirlwind of emotion, the nation (world) was glued to their televisions, dad went to donate blood and everyone was trying to figure out this new world we lived in.
I was on one of the first flights out of Los Angeles after the airspace reopened a few days later. My father had to drop me at remote parking so I could shuttle into the airport because no one could be dropped off within the airport proper. It was of the utmost importance to national security that you did not let your bags out of your possession. Now picture this: new young mom, infant, stroller, suitcase, diaper bag & stairs on and off of the bus. This was highly stressful, yet a dear sole on the bus helped me, handled my bags, so that I could get myself and Sidney off of that bus with our way too big, first time mom stroller. Security lines were immense, but the feeling of camaraderie was amazing and all of the travelers were very patient. Our country was bound together, person to person, stranger to stranger via this great tragedy in a way that I had never imagined.
Fast forward almost ten years, the "new" way of life has become the norm. My now two children know about the twin towers falling and last September eleventh, we sat as a family and watched the re-cap. We discussed with the kids what happened in more detail to answer all of the questions they had from the bits and pieces they had learned at school and heard from friends.
May 1, 2011 Osama bin Laden is killed in a covert action ten years in the making. What happens? The solemn news is announced in a rare nighttime address to the country by our President and the media is a flutter. I just read that Nielson company tallied that it was the highest viewing of a presidential address, despite the time of evening. Everything from news organizations to facebook lit up. I read things reflecting a gamut of emotions from folks damning our president if he even attempted to take credit for any involvement with the action, to vivid pictures posted of those who celebrated our tragedy of 9/11, to prayers for the fallen and people breathing a sigh of relief that this symbol of our changed world was gone. I support our military and am thankful for their service and sacrifice. The grave decisions made to "take someone out", no matter how despicable a person they are, should be met with reactions reflective of the gravity of those decisions. Gratuitous celebrations can only lower us to a level that I am not willing to encourage in my children.
Today, our senators don't stand on the capitol steps singing God Bless America. No, they spend their time exerting energies on the blame game and jockeying through calculated political moves in order to make the "other side" look bad, either now or at some intended future date undoubtedly linked to an election. Such great examples they are.
So what do we teach our children? Do we teach them that life is like a video game and we can easily get to the next level by "taking out" the bad guy or someone they disagree with? No repercussions, just finish them off two taps to the temple (literally or figuratively)? Or do we teach them that there is bad in the world and difficult decisions need to be made. That right from wrong is not always black and white but shades of gray that we have to navigate. That we can not listen to the sensationalism around us, rather, take it like water off of a ducks back, and process the information, research what is out there to find the truth, so that they can make informed and conscientious decisions about what is acceptable behavior. Then, as a parent, I can hope that I have given my children the tools to be thoughtful human beings in this post 9/11 world.
While his actions were reprehensible, I feel deeply uncomfortable with gloating over, or taking joy in, bin Laden's . . . or anyone's death.
ReplyDeleteFortunately, I think children are much more likely to model their parents' thoughts/behavior than that of opportunistic politicians.
I hope you do get a chance to read The Cazalet Chronicles. They are good at showing the "gray" in human nature -- and that's not just because they are set in England!
i agree with Bee!
ReplyDeleteand i am so looking forward to reading that book.
xo
I feel sorry for the youth of today. The media has gone, in my opinion, off the deep end, with not a care in the world except for ratings. They report trash the majority of the time. Their biased reporting has to be sifted through by listeners, but in most cases people just choose a news outlet to side with. So, where does it leave the young and impressionable? In the hands of their parents who hopefully have the smarts to sort through it all and explain it properly to their children. It just boils down to common sense. Unfortunately, there are far too many people who can't rely on that.
ReplyDeleteBut, it sounds like you have it totally under control!