The Loss of Innocence

Well, I have had time to digest a small portion of the recent news stories, and a few of the headlines almost made me weep --"Teen sentenced to juvenile detention for fatal carjacking of Uber Eats driver," and "11-year-old stabs, kills 13-year-old brother in Clinton!"

I, for one, am ready for children to go back to just being children. This push and rush to make them grown/adults are not working, and we are seeing the consequences.

Children are not being encouraged to enjoy their childhood, but to be the smartest, brightest, best educated, most technologically savvy, get a career early, beat the competition, and the list goes on.

What happened to playing, swimming (not for competition), swinging in the park (or tree branch), tree houses, shooting marbles, climbing trees, outdoor games, and just laying in the grass looking up at the sun?
Why must we make our children adults before the age of 12? Why are they being taught to be adults long before they even understand the meaning of the word?

I remember doing all of those things (being a child) growing up. I was reminded regularly that I should enjoy being a child because adulthood was forever and came with responsibilities and accountability.
I was taught to work hard, study hard, and play harder. I was also taught that there is a time and a season for everything under the sun. Both of these lessons are being skipped as we push our children toward adulthood.
Then we wonder why they do such heinous things. Their little minds are being pushed and crowded with so much so fast that they can't separate the childish things from the adult things.

If I had, but one wish this morning, I would wish that we (adults) would allow our children to experience a "great" childhood while exposing them to all of the great possibilities that lie in front of them. I would wish that they spent most of their days as children playing and learning relationship skills and how to cope with various situations that they will encounter throughout their lives. My wish would be for parents and adults to stop labeling everything as bad, racist, nasty, violent, and the list goes on.

Almost every adult I know, including me, have done childish, stupid things, including lying, fighting, using profanity, been afraid, carried out some dumb trick, and lots of pranks. Yes, we were disciplined for many of those behaviors. AND, yes, we learned our lessons.

As I look around at many of the baby boomers and other adults, I always think that we did NOT turn out too shabby, even though we did all of those things now that will get our grands and greatgrands locked up! Isn't that amazing?

One of the differences that stands out for me in Screven, GA, was that all (Blacks and Whites) were poor. Some poorer than others, but we were not millionaires. We attended segregated public schools, rode school buses, or walked to school, and we often worked side-by-side in the fields. We also went to segregated churches, but all children in our community were allowed to play and be children regardless of which side of the track they grew up on.

Today, I wonder when we (America) decide to stop allowing children to be children and parents to be parents with authority to raise their children? Even though discipline appears to be frowned upon in the homes, society seems to have reserved the right to administer discipline by expelling babies in elementary school, locking teenagers up in detention centers and juvenile centers under cruel and often not fit conditions human habitation. Then we turned them loose on society and made excuses for how they turned out -- no father in the home, they came from homes that abused drugs, were poor, and the list goes on. NOTE: Are any of these new conditions, even for the baby boomers? I don't think so, but something is truly missing.

Just something to think about today as we continue to seek to make our world a better place for us and our children and their offspring.

Peace and blessings to you and yours always.