On kids, and society

[nadinbrzezinski]

Ok we all notice this the most inside a long tube with wings at ten thousand feet. But kids SEEM to be more out of control than they used to.

And folks, I suspect it is not your imagination. The US goes through cycles in child rearing. Of course the US also sees this as a responsibility purely of parents, regardless of this it takes a village to raise a kid... ok.

But there is more. These days parents are raising kids on their own. It used to be, even a generation ago, but more as you go further into the past, that parents had a social support network to raise junior. These days it is primarily parents, who are overwhelmed, exhausted and have no kin near by (in general) to come and relieve desperate parents so desperate parents can go take a break. This is no longer happening folks. It used to.

Now this has had some interesting consequences. Instead of having mother gently guiding daughter in the finer points of child rearing, or even taking over those duties from time to time... we have books, and perhaps baby sitters.

Now we are also seeing a 180 from how many of us were raised. If I did some of the stuff... yes we all have heard it... oooh boy.

Now here is a piece of news we all have to do as a society. If we truly believe it takes a village to raise a child, helping parents by correcting the behavior of an out of control two year old is not fully out of the question. I have done it. Of course there is more, our kids are growing in a society where they need STUFF to prove they belong with their peers... and they have far more toys than I ever could imagine outside a toy store. Of course this follows the pattern of collecting stuff in our society. So that is another thing that needs to break.

Now parents are ultimately responsible for their kids, but we need to embrace this... it takes a village, because you know what? Those "brats" that you all complaint so-much will grow up and become the core of a society.

Oh and I am not looking forwards to that moment either....

Oh and for the record, I do take over kid rearing for my nephews from time to time... so yes I do what I preach... but there are days...