Wide Open Spaces

The blog of a college student working on her BA in History

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Location: Great Plains, United States

I'm a 30 year old mother of two. I'm in my junior year at a small college in the Central US, and working on my Bachelor of Arts degree in History with a Minor in Political Science.

Wednesday, April 02, 2008

Did this really "shock" anyone?

By now I'm sure everyone has heard the story about the elementary students in Georgia that planned to kill their teacher for scolding one of them. I keep hearing pundits discussing how everyone is "shocked" when they hear the story. Maybe I'm being too picky here but saying that news is shocking, to me, implies that it is unexpected and out of the blue. Shocking is something no one would ever imagine. For me, this story doesn't qualify as shocking.

I find it appalling and horrible, but not shocking. Here's why...

When we live in a world where you can get thrown in jail for disciplining your children, this cannot be unexpected.

When we live in a world where teaching your kids inclusion and self-esteem is more important than teaching them morals, this cannot come as a surprise.

When teachers tell kids that if Mom and Dad spank you, call the police on them (my cousin was told this by her 4th grade teacher), this is not out of the blue.

When parents find it more important to be their kids' friend and they don't demand respect, this is the end result.

But what really ticks me off about this story is reading articles about how THE SCHOOL failed these kids. Yes, it's mainly the school's fault, and even the teacher has to bear some blame for them plotting to kill her. There is a passing mention of maybesomethingathome, but really, it must be the school.

Here's the deal parents.....when your kids don't respect the sanctity of life, it's YOUR fault.

When your kids have no clue how to handle disappointment, it's YOUR fault.

When your kids don't know how to deal with hurt feelings, broken record here, it's YOUR fault.

If your child shows major antisocial behavior, get them help. It's a lot less embarrassing having your child in counseling than juvie. It's time for parent's to stop trying to be cool and just be parents. I know it's popular to rebel against the way you were raised but look at the way you turned out, well educated and respectable. Don't you want that for your kids? I know I do.

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