You must talk about difficult subjects. You must face ugly social circumstances ... and prepare your children for a future where they ... fight for what they believe in. recent reports that a high school student killed himself over Facebook comments, and that the comments continued even after the kid was dead. Is there anyone else out there who is terrified by this? Have our children been so numbed by the technology that we have become addicted to, that they no longer have a reality-based moral conscience? Has it all become a big social network, where no human being is actually real? I am really worried. And, the depressing thing is, that it is so hard to go against the grain. It’s like fighting a tsunami. Why is it, do you think, that there are so many more people who are willing to go along with bad behavior than there are individuals willing to stand up and say “wait a minute, I think that’s wrong”? We blame the kids for their bad behavior, but guess what? They learned it from us. If you spend your whole day texting, and your whole night watching reality television, what example is your child getting? I have spent a lot of time thinking about the connections we as humans require to function well. It’s no wonder that we don’t have world peace, when we can’t even figure out how to have “home peace.” And, there is no easy solution. But, I think a good place to start is to develop a serious, honest, deep and passionate connection among your family members. You must talk about difficult subjects. You must face ugly social circumstances head on and prepare your children for a future where they will have to fight for what they believe in, for what is right, for “the least of these.” You must, because childhood is an endangered species. Speaking truth to power is almost extinct, and if we don't teach it to our children, who will? Families live at the crossroads of extinction and survival. Love and truth are the only weapons we have, and the only weapons we need. Teach them well. Nicole McKeon is a home-schooling mom and owner of Homeschool Station in Fairview. Email her at homeschoolstation@hotmail.com.
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