When I was young, it was common for many of my friends that their parents sat them down in front of the Television as a means to keep them busy while their parents did other things besides parenting. Yesterday, I caught wind of a story advising against using your smartphone to babysit your kids. Those are pretty pricey, and I have seen parents use them with small children who can manipulate the phones with ease and on one occassion nearly purchased an application. TV and gadgets in general do us and our families a great disservice.
Since I am not a parent and not their parents, young people will confess to me periodically that the thing they want most from their parents is affirmation and confirmation. Their parents spend very little time on them or with them, trading time for stuff which they then give to their children. Many of my young friends feel or have actually literally heard that they were mistakes, that their parents would prefer life without them. How sad a prospect that sounds to me.
When parents pursue other interests, other, and sometimes nefarious, influences step in to fill the void. As I have taught over the years, many of my students have come to me first instead of to their parents for confessions, counsel, and collaboration. Where I realized this and could, I turned them to their parents. They are fortunate in my person to have found someone of courage and character. Others are not so lucky.
Television is one of the worst alternatives to parenting. Some argue that there are educational programs and the like that redeem the value of television's otherwise endless parade of asinine banalities and moral depravaties. Honestly, what fraction of your television homage is devoted to those kinds of pursuits? What do the persons on the television teach your children? Hollywood constantly argues that it 'reflects the morals and values of society'. If that were the case, as I have previously argued, nobody would watch them. We go to the movies and watch shows because they are uniquely different from our daily lives. If they were like our lives, we wouldn't be interested in watching them.
I became aware today of a nefarious partnership to propagandize the youth through supposedly innocuous channels. Using your tax dollars, the government bureaucracy is teaching youth via cartoons things with which I at best tangentially agree, and not in any way that conforms with my values, beliefs, and norms because they have a different end in mind than I. The Environmental Protection Agency and Public Broadcast Service, in association with National Public Radio and the Democrat Socialists of America (however clandestinely) have created a series of cartoons in the manner of Captain Planet to teach your kids that Juice Boxes are evil and Unicorn-topped colored pencils bring happiness. These same people send your kids home with messages to save the planet, save the snails, etc., which, although perhaps good, clash in premise if not also in precept with your values and ideas.
Teach your own children. I consider it a pleasure, honor, and ease to be a teacher. However, by the time I get them, the groundwork has often been laid by strangers of ill repute, whom you invited into your home unbeknownst to your better judgment because you turned on the TV.
You have your children for such a short period. Parenthood is about time. Spend the time with them so that they can make good use of their time too.
Since I am not a parent and not their parents, young people will confess to me periodically that the thing they want most from their parents is affirmation and confirmation. Their parents spend very little time on them or with them, trading time for stuff which they then give to their children. Many of my young friends feel or have actually literally heard that they were mistakes, that their parents would prefer life without them. How sad a prospect that sounds to me.
When parents pursue other interests, other, and sometimes nefarious, influences step in to fill the void. As I have taught over the years, many of my students have come to me first instead of to their parents for confessions, counsel, and collaboration. Where I realized this and could, I turned them to their parents. They are fortunate in my person to have found someone of courage and character. Others are not so lucky.
Television is one of the worst alternatives to parenting. Some argue that there are educational programs and the like that redeem the value of television's otherwise endless parade of asinine banalities and moral depravaties. Honestly, what fraction of your television homage is devoted to those kinds of pursuits? What do the persons on the television teach your children? Hollywood constantly argues that it 'reflects the morals and values of society'. If that were the case, as I have previously argued, nobody would watch them. We go to the movies and watch shows because they are uniquely different from our daily lives. If they were like our lives, we wouldn't be interested in watching them.
I became aware today of a nefarious partnership to propagandize the youth through supposedly innocuous channels. Using your tax dollars, the government bureaucracy is teaching youth via cartoons things with which I at best tangentially agree, and not in any way that conforms with my values, beliefs, and norms because they have a different end in mind than I. The Environmental Protection Agency and Public Broadcast Service, in association with National Public Radio and the Democrat Socialists of America (however clandestinely) have created a series of cartoons in the manner of Captain Planet to teach your kids that Juice Boxes are evil and Unicorn-topped colored pencils bring happiness. These same people send your kids home with messages to save the planet, save the snails, etc., which, although perhaps good, clash in premise if not also in precept with your values and ideas.
Teach your own children. I consider it a pleasure, honor, and ease to be a teacher. However, by the time I get them, the groundwork has often been laid by strangers of ill repute, whom you invited into your home unbeknownst to your better judgment because you turned on the TV.
You have your children for such a short period. Parenthood is about time. Spend the time with them so that they can make good use of their time too.
No comments:
Post a Comment