Sunday September 8, 2024
| |||
SNc Channels: HomeNews by DateSportsVideo ReportsWeatherBusiness NewsMilitary NewsRoad ReportCannabis NewsCommentsADVERTISEStaffCompany StoreCONTACT USRSS Subscribe Search ![]() About Salem-News.com
Salem-News.com is an Independent Online Newsgroup in the United States, setting the standard for the future of News. Publisher: Bonnie King CONTACT: Newsroom@Salem-news.com Advertising: Adsales@Salem-news.com ![]() ~Truth~ ~Justice~ ~Peace~ TJP |
Nov-02-2009 14:11 ![]() ![]() Protecting Our Children in a World Gone MadKarin Friedemann Salem-News.comAs parents we have to make sure our children are aware of the choices we hope our kids will make, to balance the information they are getting from society about the choices that corporate military consumer culture hopes they make.
(BOSTON) - When I spent a year teaching 6-8 grade students in Detroit, Michigan, I had hoped that with my high ideals, I could influence the children to become thinkers, perhaps even sway them towards a Godly life. But I found a tragic situation. American children of today are seriously brain damaged from computer games, TV, movies and pop music. They have an attention span no longer than a commercial and if something is not flashing lights and making bleeping noises they have no interest in it. They have a huge problem translating their thoughts into written words and they have a hard time sitting still. They really require - and want - adults to manage their behavior. Concerning sex education, it was painfully clear that there was nothing I could do for these kids, except maybe an occasional isolated miracle. How do you convince a girl not to date boys when her own mother goes out on dates? You and I know that she is too young to think about such things, but the fact is, by 6th grade these kids' minds are set into the pattern created by the mass media. It made me realize that you really have to focus on protecting your kids from a very young age and arm them with knowledge. The religious kids, if they are going to stay clean and innocent, they have to have made that choice well before 6th grade. Parents need to realize that the kids are going to learn everything about the facts of life - if not from school then from the songs playing in the supermarket - so we have to protect them. We have to tell them that they are persons of value who deserve to be respected and cherished and to enjoy happy and healthy relationships. Many children never hear these words from their parents so they seek affection and positive encouragement elsewhere. Most kids chase after boyfriends or girlfriends because the media tells them this is how you find happiness. Parents really need to walk the middle line between saying too much and not saying enough. Young kids don't need the "details" of how babies are made but they do need to be told at a young age, for example, which parts of their body are off limits, even to family members, and the child should be made to promise to report any violations even if done in jest. Since they are giggling about boys as early as first grade, girls need to be advised well in advance that their lives will be miserable if they fall in love with boys before they are old enough to get married. They need to know the rules of clothing. They need to be instructed never to be alone in a room with a boy. Their brother should go with them if they are visiting the neighbor kids or cousins. You really can't be under-prepared. A child needs to make an internal promise to keep chaste until marriage, if it is to be. If the kid has not gotten any good advice by age eleven, he or she may easily get lost. Whatever you tell your kids, it has to make sense within the context of the way that their peers explain the world. Although, "We don't do that because we are Muslim (or whatever religion)" goes a long way. American children have full knowledge of how babies are made and how to prevent them, but they are very protected from knowing how babies come out. I believe that in families where the mother gives birth at home and the children are there to emotionally support her and know what women go through, these children will probably have a healthier attitude and reverence for their bodies and for life itself and will be less likely to make light-hearted decisions. Even many religious men, who were chaste until marriage, still lack the appropriate respect and reverence for the extreme sacrifice that a woman makes when she obeys her husband. A man that heard his mother's screams when he was a boy will probably be more helpful and more emotionally supportive towards his wife than if he was raised in ignorance. The good news is that there seem to be more and more kids in high schools and colleges that choose to be chaste and who give each other moral support, and I have to assume it's because their parents talked to them about when sex is appropriate. Looking at online teen discussions it seems clear that there is a group of kids who have zero self esteem and are actively striving to crash their lives because they have no guidance other than the desire to be "cool" - while there is another group of kids who are actively striving to be responsible. When I was a kid there were no kids striving to be responsible in matters of chastity. If anyone was religiously motivated they would be treated like a mentally ill person and no one would be their friend. America is becoming better in many ways. At least, there are better choices available. As parents we have to make sure our children are aware of the choices we hope our kids will make, to balance the information they are getting from society about the choices that corporate military consumer culture hopes they make. You can read more of Karin's stories on Salem-News.com and at Khaleej Times ==================================================
She enjoys writing about Jewish and Middle East affairs and her occasionally outrageous personal advice column "Ask Maria." She has written for the Muslim Observer, Islamic Horizons and the Message magazine on local politics, the halal meat industry and women's issues. You can email Karin at this address: togethertalk@hotmail.com
Articles for November 1, 2009 | Articles for November 2, 2009 | Articles for November 3, 2009 | ![]() ![]() Support Salem-News.com: Quick Links
DININGWillamette UniversityGoudy Commons Cafe Dine on the Queen Willamette Queen Sternwheeler MUST SEE SALEMOregon Capitol ToursCapitol History Gateway Willamette River Ride Willamette Queen Sternwheeler Historic Home Tours: Deepwood Museum The Bush House Gaiety Hollow Garden AUCTIONS - APPRAISALSAuction Masters & AppraisalsCONSTRUCTION SERVICESRoofing and ContractingSheridan, Ore. ONLINE SHOPPINGSpecial Occasion DressesAdvertise with Salem-NewsContact:AdSales@Salem-News.com googlec507860f6901db00.html ![]() | |
Contact: adsales@salem-news.com | Copyright © 2024 Salem-News.com | news tips & press releases: newsroom@salem-news.com.
Terms of Service | Privacy Policy |
All comments and messages are approved by people and self promotional links or unacceptable comments are denied.
Henry Ruark November 3, 2009 3:49 pm (Pacific time)
If we wish to pursue who lies, when it started, with what conseqences, and potential further destruction for young AND old of morals, as well as beliefs and finally and fundamentally, faith itself...we had better warn Tim re massive new channel capacity needed here. Down through Centuries, since Christ Himself was here, if that is what you believe, and for long before, that plaint and ploy has been used as "the ultimate weapon", workable only for those of some faith in its progenitor, whomever it happened to be at the moment. Sorry for "intensity", but only returning thump for tit-tat, at that... Best to you, sir or madam as the case may be...and I hope you find the right book, with the right page, and the right verse, to fit your potent needs as demonstrated here.
vic November 3, 2009 2:57 pm (Pacific time)
I liked your first post Vic. As a believer in Christ, I wont even visit a church. Actually, thinking about visiting morningstar next sunday tho to see if the federal government has contacted/contracted the pastor like they have 26,000+ (and growing) other pastors to lead their sheep in regards to Romans 13. I will let you know what he says. In regards to this article, when the leaders of this country continue to lie, over, and over, how can you blame the kids. I do not have time to fight all the legislation taking our freedoms away and take care of kids at the same time. I am frigin tired.
Henry Ruark November 3, 2009 11:44 am (Pacific time)
Vic: "Intensity" never out of place in comments here...it is motivating power that makes dialog work as well as it does. "Strong feeling" means much only when backed by solid, fact-based understandings. "Intensity" guarantees that rational, reasonable writers will see out solid factual basis, rather than off-hand emotion-driven stuff... Proof cometh inevitably via further dialog...cliche might claim, like democracy, when there is a problem in full understanding, "MORE dialog" is the most pragmatic answer. Vic, yours always insightful from solid life experiences well worth full-share here; thanks for "intensity", which is well worth attention and, as always, further response. We agree on major meanings, due to original article and our shared "intensities.
Vic November 3, 2009 10:54 am (Pacific time)
OK...I was a little hostile in my first reponse...I am sorry for that. Maybe I should switch to decaffeinated coffee. I appreciate your article and the time spent compiling it. And Henry...your comment is right on...!
Henry Ruark November 3, 2009 10:17 am (Pacific time)
Unfortunately, acceptance of any relgious belief, at any level, with any faith-based list of "objectives" (read: demands on the person) must and will inevitably remain a matter of personal choice. Inevitably life experience, esp. early-family and "church or no" sets up early perimeters not easily passed --but saving/grace for all is fact that maturity offers the continuing opportunities to share-and-learn, and continue that human-scale progression and growth that every religion ostensibly seeks, no matter how or by-whom it is originally formulated. To coin a cliche, "that's life" --and it better be well-lived, too, to satisfy the real objectives for all religious faith-and-feeling.
Vic November 3, 2009 7:09 am (Pacific time)
The most vile persons I have known were "religious". Members of my own family go to church and claim to be "good peope", yet they are arrogant, self-righteous, racist, and would not give a dime to anyone unless it benefitted them. Get off the "religious people are better" bandwagon...no one is following. And the chasity, no-sex-before-marrage thing is ridiculous. Get real...I cant believe this Puritan bs made it on S-N. BTW, the most religious person I know was the pastor of the little church my daughter and I attended some year ago...where is he now? In prison for molesting a 13 year old boy. Religion is a joke, a means that insecure people use to convince themselves that they are better than others. I have known a few real Christians, but 90% of the so-called Christians I have known were anything but Christians.
[Return to Top]©2024 Salem-News.com. All opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Salem-News.com.