Today's Unrecognized Dangers to Our Kids
A bit lengthy but critical to understand
Today, sensitivity levels are at all-time extremes. Do, say, or even think what others consider to be wrong, whether or not it is wrong , and sometimes, even if they are morally and/or ethically right, and you have earned yourself a reason to spend time in prison, have your personal possessions threatened and/or destroyed, be assaulted, or worse, die for it! Today, if you don’t think the way others think, or believe what they believe, you will either conform, or pay a potentially serious price.
As your children grow, they will begin to form their own thoughts and opinions on things. They’ll start to develop their own “lens” and how they see the world through it. What they ultimately develop into becomes their brand. In the past, our children’s lenses, or brand, and where they stood on the world’s most sensitive, and potentially explosive topics like politics, religion, sexual preferences, etc. would be very similar to those of their parent(s).
Today, that’s not as likely the case, for whole bunch of reasons. Unlike the past, where the influences that our children were subject to were very closely held and controlled within the 4 walls of our homes and families, today, they have influence from the world, literally at their fingertips and, today, these influences are very aggressive and outspoken! They all want your kids and will stop at nothing to get them. Today, even our educational systems can be considered an influence that wants our kids! They are no longer teaching two sides of everything so that our kids can formulate their own opinions, they are dictating our children’s thought and beliefs by teaching a single side as the only side – as fact! And unfortunately, many parents don’t even realize it. The result – they wake up one day and realize that their children have gotten away from them.
This creates some very serious parenting challenges. The question is – how do we deal with these influences on our kids without destroying the resiliency that is so critical to their development. Should we shelter them from these influences; keep them locked up to ensure that only we have influence on them and control the content that they have access to? Should we trust in “the system” to choose what’s right for our kids? Or, should we just trust that they have the common sense to “fact-check” what they are learning because we have taught them that there are always varying views on almost everything that they are taught. Heck, there will be differing views on the merits of the information in this article.
What I want to focus on is how all of the very unique challenges of today’s world create significant threats to our children, and even us, physically. More specifically, I want to focus on how we keep our kids safe from physical harm against the threats that will result from the things that they believe in, or not. This is not about robbery, rape, etc. This is more about threats caused by differences in ideals, or what we might consider “hate” crime or crimes against them simply because they are different, or think differently than what others think they should.
Is this really a problem? I truly believe that many parents don’t recognize what is happening in this country. Not because they don’t care, but because they don’t have the time. This is a difficult challenge on its own because we parent on assumptions that those who educate our kids or report news to them have their best interests in mind. We trust that they aren’t forcing narratives on them that aren’t aligned with the development of our kids, but rather are more focused on creating what our kids will be. The difference? Developing means that we provide the ingredients and allow the kids to determine how much of each they add to their recipe and what they ultimately will be. Creating means that we are deciding what they will be and issuing the ingredients in the amounts that result in what we choose for them. Resiliency requires open mindedness, bipartisanship, sensitivity to other’s thoughts and needs, the willingness to sacrifice and negotiate, the ability to allow others to think and believe differently without rage, anger, and a force to change them.
Yes, the dangers to the well-being of your children, both physically and psychologically, are at all-time highs and the challenges to protecting them are immense.
The possible solutions?
So, the security solutions that are required to protect our children start with parents making it a point to understand what their kids are being taught and how they are being impacted by the many influencers of the world – news, social media, friends, groups, etc. For parents to provide the best solutions, they need to understand the problems first. This also means that parents need to make sure that they are understanding of both sides of today’s highly explosive topics. This takes time, effort, and commitment, but its critical that your kids see you making an overt attempt to understand all aspects of issues that impact you, them, the country, and the world and discussing these things with them. I cannot believe how many parents that I talk with that have no idea what’s going on in the world. News is an absolute essential of good parenting. It’s no different than running a company. If you don’t know what’s going on in the world and how it can positively or negatively impact your company, you can find yourself in big trouble quickly.
Yes, information is critical to safety, security, and prosperity. Personally, I make it a point, and take the time to watch several news stations to ensure that I am seeing the world from as many views as possible and that I am getting ALL of the news. Why should you have to do this? Because today, “unbiased” is a waning characteristic in news media, educational institutions, companies, and people. We are all starting to form very strong opinion weighed heavily to one side of an issue or another. Few are unbiased these days. Even the news media is no longer unbiased! I am telling you, the difference between what Fox News (conservative politically) reports and what CNN, MSNBC (liberal politically) is literally night and day. And they don’t even cover the same news with varying viewpoints! If it is news that doesn’t positively advance their organizational agenda, they don’t cover it at all. If you watch only one, you will not get all of the news. The problem is that if you only watch one, and don’t understand the heavy bias that has overwhelmed news organizations and corporations, you would have no reason to think that you are not getting all of the news, or that the narratives in reporting are very, very biased. Well, now you know. And don’t just take my word for it. Check it out for yourselves. What is right and/or wrong, or true and/or false will become quickly apparent whether based on fact, or your particular world views.
Once this is understood, it then becomes critical to figure out exactly what you will tell your kids, or at least recommend, on how to deal with differences of opinion and the danger it poses to their personal security. Do you teach them to stand up for what they believe, be vocal and draw attention and potential danger to themselves, or do you recommend that they stay silent, and take no sides in exchange for higher levels of security. What is your personal position? Do you hide from what you believe; refrain from talking about the taboo topics like politics and religion in order to avoid offending others? Or, do you stand up for what you believe, regardless of what others think or feel about you? Why is this important? Because, as a parent “do as I say not what I do” just doesn’t work. Your kids will typically do what they grow up experiencing or seeing you do, or not do.
The bottom line:
The world is getting far more complicated and dangerous. Threats to our personal security are unique. As parents we must recognize these things, educate ourselves, and figure out how we are going to keep our kids safe not only while they are our responsibility, but when they are their own responsibility. Your lack of knowledge, understanding, and action can negatively impact your family for generations or, conversely…positively impact them.
We will continuously strive to get you relevant and critical information.