Kids are people too!
Children aren't innocent and happy all the time, you know. They have just as many feelings and worries as adults do, and for some children, life is harder than it is for adults. Children have to struggle with being accepted by their friends, trying hard in school, pleasing their parents, etc. Some children have even tougher burdens to deal with like debt, neglect, or abuse. Being a kid is not a walk in the park. That is why I don't like it when people degrade those younger than them. Even if tis only one or two years, people seem to think that they are superior and more wise than the younger person. This goes for sophomores belittling freshman, eighth graders belittling sixth graders, fifth graders belittling third graders, and adults belittling younger people in general.
Just because you're older doesn't make you smarter or wiser. I have been smarter and wiser than a lot of kids who were 5 years older than me when I was in elementary and middle school. Tis wrong to judge a person by their age, and automatically think they're inferior to you. A sophomore was a freshman not so long ago, yet the sophomore talks about freshman as if they're so tiny and immature. Hey, not all freshman are small (many are taller than some adults), and not all of them are immature. Let me tell you, I've known elementary kids more mature than high schoolers, I being one of them. So shut up. Same goes for eighth and seventh graders belittling sixth graders. If anything, it shows your own immaturity and stupidity by degrading people just one or two years younger than you. You are both still children, so stop acting like you're an adult.
Oh, and also, just because you hit 18 doesn't make you an adult except in the eyes of the law. You're still a child. Most 18 year olds are immature anyway, hence all those car accidents they get into, and how they all rush to get drunk and look at porn. People who do that are immature. Elementary school kids often times have better common sense than older people. Most of them see porn and stuff like that for what it is--gross. Do you teens out there see 40 year old adults going to parties and getting drunk and looking at porn? I sure hope not, because if so they never grew up. People who do that are bored, and bored people are boring, and boring people have no purpose in life, and those who have no purpose in life don't deserve to live.
Now when I defend children, I mean the younger ones. The ones who are most degraded of all--the toddlers and below. I don't like how adults lie to them. Children should be treated as equals, not inferiors. Children are kept in the dark about so much, and if you put yourself in their place, you would see how frustrating it is to know that there is something wrong but no one tells you. You're not doing them any favors by trying to "protect" them with lies. No one likes to be lied to, and kids are no exception.
A grand example of this is 911 and war. For all the parents out there, what did you tell your kids when/if they asked about 911 or the war? Did you make up some sugar-coated lie about it or avoid the question? That's not fair. The children should see things how they are. There is no point in trying to lie about it when they will find out sooner or later anyway from their friends or the T.V. And they won't be happy when they find out you lied to them. I mean, there's nothing bad about telling them what happened on September 11th, and what is happening in Iraq and stuff. Tis the truth. Tis our history. Tis nothing worse than what is on cartoons, movies, and other T.V. programs. If you're going to protect them from something, protect them from the rated R movies and stuff. That stuff isn't even real. If something happens in our world's history, and your child is concerned about it, you should explain it to them. Confusion is worse than the truth, no matter how painful it is to tell or hear.
Anytime a child asks you a question, don't blow it off. That discourages them from learning. Tell them the best answer you can give them, and if you don't know (like for a question like why is the sky blue or something scientific like that), offer to take them to the library and find out. Make learning an adventure. Whoa, I sound like a parenting book or something. Lol, I would make such a good mother.
That is what I mean by telling children no lies. It also goes for treating them as your equals. Another way to avoid treating them as inferiors is to not baby-talk them like, "Oh, does your itty bitty finger have a boo-boo? Mommy will make it all better!" You don't talk to others your age that way, so don't do it to children. Talk to kids as you would anyone else. This helps them develop a good vocabulary faster. If the children don't understand your words, explain the meaning to them. Tisn't that hard. So instead of saying that phrase, say this instead: "Oh, did you cut your finger? I'll get a bandage."
All that is good advice to follow, and I'm sure your kids will be grateful to you when they're older. The next advice I'm going to give is kind of controversial, and I doubt anyone is willing to follow it, because no one I have told this to has agreed with me on it:
The issue of Santa Claus and all those other mythical holiday creatures like the Easter Bunny and Leprechauns and Tooth Fairy (okay, so they're not all holiday creatures): Making children believe in those things is the same as a lie. I know tis national tradition (another one of my pet peeves), but I think tis stupid. When I was in first grade, a second grader named Ren at my baby-sitter's house asked if I believed in Santa Clause. I said yeah. She told me that he wasn't real, along with all the other mythical holiday creatures. I didn't believe her, so when my mom picked me up, I asked her. After hesitation and me telling her to tell me the truth, she told me. I cried a little. But do you know why I cried? Because I was angry that I had been lied to. Tis no different to kids to get gifts from parents or Santa. As long as they get gifts, they're happy. So why bother with the lie? For you Christians out there, this also creates the illusion of Christmas revolving around Santa. Christmas is the celebration of Jesus Christ's birth. It has nothing to do with Santa. So don't confuse them and make them angry by lying to them. There's nothing to gain by it. . . .
Copyright © 2004 JANS INDIGO. All Rights Reserved.