degredation of society

[TEXSRT4]

woa is the generation who does not strive to protect the innocents of their youth. for they have become an abomination, no longer fit to be called human. they have degraded into less than even the beasts of the fields. how corrupt have we become that our children are not our first priority, but instead just another drain on society waiting to be filled in. filled with the disgustingness of humanity and the unholy degredation that comes from the way we treat one another. let the children play, let them think, let them learn, but dont show them the evil that is humanity. they will have time to absorb the corruption when they mature, but let them hold fast to their innocents for as long as possiable. for that is what makes children themselves

[dirtydx]

do you have a solution? or just the complaint.

until then your a beast in the field just like me. LOL

[sivic02]

Heres my vote for the solution...
http://art-bin.com/art/omodest.html

[DGB454]

Well I liked it.

[2strokebloke]

Uh - degradation? 80 years ago our children would have been working in coal mines, and be lucky if they were literate.
Humanity is bad? geeze go figure that showing a little humanity towards one another would be so bad. Perhaps if people in other countries would treat children as humans and not slaves or soldiers, we'd all be better off.

[sivic02]

I still say we eat the babies...whos with me!

[TEXSRT4]

degradation yes!!! working hard does not infact lead to corruption, it leads to character development. instead, what fuels this disease is the acceptablility of violence, sexuallity, and relativism as social norms. we not only allow it, but encourage it - and it is that fact that instills fear in the deepest corner of my heart. humanity dwindles in the coming generations

[TexasF355F1]

Man, I think you have some issues you need to deal with. If you look back in history then follow it forward, everything has been going down hill in a way, but at the same time things are better. I(and I think the rest of us) am really having a problem trying to understand what exactly you are trying to say. Try and enjoy life a little bit.

[2strokebloke]

Originally Posted by TEXSRT4

degradation yes!!! working hard does not infact lead to corruption, it leads to character development.

So long as you're not suggesting that working in dangerous conditions until your internal organs fail is a good way to build character - I'll agree.

instead, what fuels this disease is the acceptablility of violence, sexuallity, and relativism as social norms. we not only allow it, but encourage it

Who's encouraging it? Certainly not any more people than are against it.

- and it is that fact that instills fear in the deepest corner of my heart. humanity dwindles in the coming generations

I think you're being pessimistic for no good reason. If you only want to focus on what's bad - everything seems bad.

[TEXSRT4]

i in no way shape or form need to lighten up. i have an amazing life, and have no real problems. the issue i have has been realised through my work with elementary - highschool students. i have been watching a constant decline in morals. but what really bothers me is this. we had a discussion in a class i was attending the other day. this discussion was about teh teaching of children. these people believed that it was acceptable to not protect their children from the world around them. they thought it wasnt nessesary to watch or observe our youth. this pushed me over the edge! im normally a very easy going person, with very few issues in life. but when you take advantage of our most precious resources, that is where i draw the line

[2strokebloke]

Hmmm, that's disturbing.
In school I always felt like school was really stupid for setting it's students up so poorly for the real world. Sheltering them, and hiding them from them from what is real.
I wouldn't say that we shouldn't watch out for the youth, but for the love of pie - don't hide them from everything. Don't force them to live in a world that isn't real. Let them learn through interaction, let them figure stuff out.
Life is not worksheets and tests - that is cruelty that is being unfair to the children, that is setting them up for life as machine, they may as well be a computer reading punch cards and retrieving information from their memory banks.
I hope my children never have to face such degrading and humiliating "education" in their lives.

[TexasF355F1]

Originally Posted by 2strokebloke

Hmmm, that's disturbing.
In school I always felt like school was really stupid for setting it's students up so poorly for the real world. Sheltering them, and hiding them from them from what is real.
I wouldn't say that we shouldn't watch out for the youth, but for the love of pie - don't hide them from everything. Don't force them to live in a world that isn't real. Let them learn through interaction, let them figure stuff out.
Life is not worksheets and tests - that is cruelty that is being unfair to the children, that is setting them up for life as machine, they may as well be a computer reading punch cards and retrieving information from their memory banks.
I hope my children never have to face such degrading and humiliating "education" in their lives.

I agree. Having gone to school with a very diverse group since pre-school, I have seen just about everytype of person there is. Don't take that too literally b/c no one is the same. Anyways, I have witnessed drug deals in school, witnessed a gun going off in class(accidental, but bad nonetheless bad), been friends with gang members, been harassed(only once or twice b/c I was friends with most everyone). I could go on and on.

My point is, that witnessing and being around all of these different situations could have changed me for the worse. But its my parents that brought me up to have good morals and respect people. But none of what was taught by my parents was enforced. It was myself that had to learn what I view as right and wrong, moral and immoral.

A lot has to do with the environment in which we grow up around. Just b/c some people are gang members or sell drugs or do drugs doesnt necessarily make them bad people. It may take a bad experience to make someone realize what they're doing is wrong. Some never learn, but many do. It's those that do, that usually end up trying to make changes for the best and teach others what not to do and view them as an example.

As for education side of things. Many people see education as the most important thing there is in the world. I am one that doesnt. I do think that everyone and I mean everyone needs to graduate from high school. Its the persons choice afterwards whether or not to achieve a high education. Just b/c they don't doesnt make things bad, college just isn't for everyone. The things I see as far more important than education is family and friends. Without family and friends, a person really has nothing. No one to love, no one to care for, no one to care for them etc. Love and care is what this society needs to help smooth along the process.

This world is full of bad people and bad things. But there are far more good people in this world than we can see or even acknowledge. It's the negativity that the mediums show and tell us. You have to teach kids to look beyond the bad and try and find the good.

[DGB454]

Children need the time to be children. They don't need to be forced into the way society is today. When I was a child things were much different than they are today. My 13 year old son is already being preassured into sex, drugs and drinking. This has been going on for 2 years now since he was 11. When I was 11 these weren't the peer preasures I had to face. At 11 you are still a child and shouldn't have to face adult problems and preasures. I live in a small town and chose to live here because I wanted to give my son the same chance at being a kid that I had. That's harder than I would have expected it was going to be. The reason? THe moral values of the world have dropped so low that they are almost unrecognizable as anything I knew as a child or even 10 years ago for that matter.
No you can't shelter your kids from the world but you can give them a chance to be a kid as long as possible. Try and keep certain things away from them until they are mature enough to deal with it.
Forcing them into "the real world" will only stunt them morally. I for one would rather have my son grow up morally sound rather than "real world" wise.
Fortunatly for me I do have a good son who is getting a great education at one of the highest ranked public schools in the state.(all A's too )
And he wise enough to (at the moment) be able to say no to those peer preasures. I know this won't last forever but I will help him make it last as long as it can. He is only a child once. He will my child forever. He deserves a chance to become the best adult he can be.

[TexasF355F1]

Originally Posted by DGB454

Children need the time to be children. They don't need to be forced into the way society is today. When I was a child things were much different than they are today. My 13 year old son is already being preassured into sex, drugs and drinking. This has been going on for 2 years now since he was 11. When I was 11 these weren't the peer preasures I had to face. At 11 you are still a child and shouldn't have to face adult problems and preasures. I live in a small town and chose to live here because I wanted to give my son the same chance at being a kid that I had. That's harder than I would have expected it was going to be. The reason? THe moral values of the world have dropped so low that they are almost unrecognizable as anything I knew as a child or even 10 years ago for that matter.
No you can't shelter your kids from the world but you can give them a chance to be a kid as long as possible. Try and keep certain things away from them until they are mature enough to deal with it.
Forcing them into "the real world" will only stunt them morally. I for one would rather have my son grow up morally sound rather than "real world" wise.
Fortunatly for me I do have a good son who is getting a great education at one of the highest ranked public schools in the state.(all A's too )
And he wise enough to (at the moment) be able to say no to those peer preasures. I know this won't last forever but I will help him make it last as long as it can. He is only a child once. He will my child forever. He deserves a chance to become the best adult he can be.

It makes you feel good to know your son can chose NOT to do things people try and pressure him to. One thing that I've seen though, is that kids in small towns tend to be far more sexually premiscuious(sp?), drink, and try all sorts of drugs at a far younger age than I have seen. Not to say that things arent different always. But I'm glad your kid has a good head on his shoulders. That says a lot about you as a father.

Another thing that can have an adverse affect on kids is trying to hide them from alcohol and telling them its bad. The kids I know whose parents did this, started abusing alcohol at an early age. When I was in high school, as long as I told my dad that we were going to have a few beers he was fine with it. Mainly b/c he would do the same things in high school and he knew we weren't driving anywhere, and my friends parents were there and watching us. My dad has praised me for the fact that I dont drink and drive. My dad did it all the time when he was young and got tickets that he would find the next morning and not even remember receiving.

One thing that I did, that I wasn't really pressured to do was drink at school in 7th grade. A buddy of mine brought a beer one day, and he passed it around our little lunch table. He was known to be a trouble maker, but he did not pressure me to drink. I'm the one that said let me have a sip. He even brought a beer for each of us the rest of that week. It was a stupid thing to do. But hell I was growing and learning. I'm just lucky we never got caught.

There's only so much you can shelter you child from. Once they are out the door you can only hope you've raised them good enough to make the right decisions on their own. While I've done things that arent exactly right, I dont deem as very bad from my own set of morals. There are other things I do and dont do that I feel are far more important to maintain within myself to keep me in the right state of mind.

[DGB454]

Originally Posted by TexasF355F1

It makes you feel good to know your son can chose NOT to do things people try and pressure him to. One thing that I've seen though, is that kids in small towns tend to be far more sexually premiscuious(sp?), drink, and try all sorts of drugs at a far younger age than I have seen.

I agree 100%. I think it's the boredom of the small towns that leads them to experement a little more. That's why we make sure we get to know his friends. We also lead him towards other outside activities after school. We don't force him to do these outside activities but at least try them. Some stick and some don't. It helps him from becoming bored. Our house is usually where him and his freinds end up at when they are looking for a place to hang out. We have tried to create a place where they feel comfortable. I'd rather see them over here where I know what's going on and I continue to be part of their life than somewhere else where I don't know what's going on.

Not to say that things arent different always. But I'm glad your kid has a good head on his shoulders. That says a lot about you as a father.

Thanks. I'm sure in time he will begin to start pulling away but by that time I am hoping he learned enough to make somewhat mature decisions.

Another thing that can have an adverse affect on kids is trying to hide them from alcohol and telling them its bad. The kids I know whose parents did this, started abusing alcohol at an early age. When I was in high school, as long as I told my dad that we were going to have a few beers he was fine with it. Mainly b/c he would do the same things in high school and he knew we weren't driving anywhere, and my friends parents were there and watching us. My dad has praised me for the fact that I dont drink and drive. My dad did it all the time when he was young and got tickets that he would find the next morning and not even remember receiving.

I agree. You can't stifel everything by simply saying it's bad and hiding it from them. My mom and dad didn't drink at all. By the time I was in 10th grade I was drinking quite a bit.(especially on weekends.) It was understood that it was not acceptable but I did it anyway.

One thing that I did, that I wasn't really pressured to do was drink at school in 7th grade. A buddy of mine brought a beer one day, and he passed it around our little lunch table. He was known to be a trouble maker, but he did not pressure me to drink. I'm the one that said let me have a sip. He even brought a beer for each of us the rest of that week. It was a stupid thing to do. But hell I was growing and learning. I'm just lucky we never got caught. There's only so much you can shelter you child from. Once they are out the door you can only hope you've raised them good enough to make the right decisions on their own. While I've done things that arent exactly right, I dont deem as very bad from my own set of morals. There are other things I do and dont do that I feel are far more important to maintain within myself to keep me in the right state of mind.

I know that he will eventually do things and experiment with things that I don't want him to. That's part of growing up. My only hope is that if he ever finds himself in trouble and needs help that I have instilled in him enough confidence in me that I will be the one he trusts and calls to help him out. It sounds like your father built in you that kind of confidence and trust.