Love and Inaction

The issue of whether or not we, as a society, respect our children and adolescents is sort of a tough one, and in many cases, the scale can be tipped either way. However, it seems to me that American society loves the idea of children more than the reality of children. We claim to love them, yet often do little to protect them from those who do them harm. In cases of violence or exploitation of children, especially when the attacker's reputation/the reputations of those they represent are at stake, the attacker is often times protected at the expense of the victimized children. As seen in the Jerry Sandusky case as well as the multiple cases of molestation committed by religious figures,  the crimes are often covered up or disregarded in order to protect the names of prestigious universities/football legacies and religions. Certainly there are laws and policies in place to protect children from such atrocities, but despite these, child welfare comes often second to an adult's reputation. I might also add that protections of the abuser don't just occur in high-profile cases; children who have been removed from toxic home environments may be sent right back "home" due to parental rights.

Loving and respecting children goes hand in hand with providing them with basic needs, such as those highlighted by Maslow's Heirarchy of Needs. The bottom block on Maslow's pyramid represents physiological needs such as access to food/water, shelter, warmth and possibly healthcare. And yet, one in four American children are living in poverty and may have less access to food. While there are federal assistance programs to help provide food and healthcare to those who cannot afford it, those very programs (not to mention educational programs) are often the first to go when it comes to trimming down the federal budget. The next level on Maslow's pyramid is that of safety, which includes stability and security, but as I mentioned before, we are clearly not doing all we can to protect children from those who would do them harm. Even cases of mass violence against children are not enough to convince this country to enforce stricter laws (i.e. gun laws) that would keep them safe.

I won't deny that Americans love our children in theory, but I'd be hard pressed to admit we love and respect them in practice.

Response to Disrespected Children

I feel as though the youth of America are very much respected, because the proof is in the pudding. Look at everything that America provides for children let alone adding parents to the mix children can get all that they want in life it is just a matter of the child themselves going out and helping themselves to what is available. Public schools are providing meals for children as well as supplying teachers that do know what they are doing. Yes there are cutbacks to the public school system, and some could question the intelligence of the teachers, but they didn't get there for doing nothing and the food will still always be there. Kids are provided a place to learn as well as a place to snack to make it through the day. I think that it is a privilege to go to school and for the majority of kids around the nation it is readily available to them. Also with how much parents invest their time, money, and effort into providing for their children they are able to have a good life. Some kids may not have it as well off as others, but if the parents are trying then what more could children really ask for? Parents provide shelter, food, clothing, money, transportation, and the list goes on and if that isn't a sign of respect I don't know what is then.

I see the little things as the most important things, these things get taken for granted though. Being raised with parents (or some case one parent or a guardian) already allows you to get out and be given opportunities. If raised in even a somewhat decent manner a teenager can go out and try to get a job, but they couldn't of got there without the learning from their parents and the clothes the parents put on their back. Being able to have a job and make your own money is a huge step. And that step can only help children in the future to help ensure a better livelihood.

 

Americans Disrespect of Children. Prompt September 3 Response

I do not agree with the statement that Americans do not love their children, but I do feel that they do have their priorities and judgment mixed up. In this fast past life with people struggling to keep afloat children have been dropped on the priority list. Class rooms are a classic example when the number of students per teacher has increased and the budget cuts have gotten rid of aids and assistants. They have instituted a No Child Left Behind Policy that in reality is hurting instead of helping. The focus has been placed on the funding. Does this mean we don’t love our children? No, but it shows that the importance placed on education the future leaders of the country in not top priority.

 Some people have a tendency to assume kids are bad just because of the way they dress or wear their hair. It is apparent that not all kids are given an equal opportunity. The American people need to be more supportive and less quick to judge.

In order to provide shelter, food, and clothing for their children many parents are working two or more jobs. That means many kids are on their own when it comes to completing homework and succeeding at school.

Problem #1: over-population of a nation 

Each generation exponentially requires more resources.  When funding or food or employment is scarce, we as a people need to face the inevitable - the numbers just don't jive.  We don't have enough funding to pay enough teachers to take care of enough students to ensure that enough of them grow up and manage to find enough employment to earn enough to take care of the next generation.

http://stateofworkingamerica.org/files/book/Chapter1-Overview.pdf

Problem #2: policies are dictated by oligarchy

We elect a few rich people to make decisions based on the best interests of the numerous poor.  Check into the pay grade of our "public servants", and don't forget to note severance packages.  Democracy looks good on paper, but practice will always be dictated by human behavior.  In "nanny state" fashion, our government has stepped in to fill the gaps created by the baby boomer generation who bucked tradition & raised their children without structure.    

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/10/rich-people-compassion-mean-money_n_1416091.html 

Problem #3: our own evolution

Having developed compassion over the last thousand years (as opposed to throwing deformed babies over cliffs and letting them starve to death), we have recently created a plastic bubble around our children so that they may avoid any sort of negative encounter with the rest of the world.  Our hospital systems are overwhelmed with germaphobic porphyrians, and I think it's because kids don't have enough dirt in their diet.  That's not a scientific fact, but seriously - I'm sure your grandfather ate a worm or two in his heyday and managed to survive long enough to raise your parents & not end up in prison.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/darell-hammond/play-is-under-attack-in-o_b_947151.html  

Problem #4: snowflakes

Helicopter parenting has taken over in recent generations, which to me signifies a growing fear of self-efficacy as a parent (peppered sparsely with what seems to be their own abandonment issues).  Coupled with the idea that all children are super special and particularly fragile, parents are crushing important developmental boundaries in favor of making sure their preciouses remain under radar.  "The road to hell is paved with good intentions" seems fitting here, as I'm sure most of these kinds of parents truly only want the best for their offspring. 

http://www.naturalnews.com/039119_helicopter_parenting_children_mental_health.html

As a nation, I believe that there are definitely two sides of the respecting children coin.  I believe the culmination of our problems lies in not finding a balance.  To make matters worse, we live in a "what's good in theory is not good in practice" sort of world, where policy often times gives way to unintended consequences.  The most respect we can afford our future generations is learning to temper discipline & structure with reality - kids need to be kids.  Basically, what she said: http://ideas.time.com/2012/06/12/should-we-stop-telling-our-kids-that-theyre-special/

America's Disrespect of Children: Prompt September 3rd Response

I would have to agree, many of Americans do disrespect children.  A majority of parents or guardians of children that I know and have met always want to pawn the children off onto some one else whenever they can get the chance.  Yes sure they love their kids, but that behavior to me shows that they really don’t care much about what they are exposed to.  Even in schools, yes the teachers and maybe the principles cares about the children, what they learn, and how they are doing altogether, but anyone in higher positions only care in the money for the school.  They are not even giving a moment’s thought into the children or how it will affect them.  They only worry about themselves and how they can possibly save money.  Like removing programs that give the children a variety of things to do.  I remember from when I was in school from elementary on, I saw drastic changes in the schools for the years after me.  Like right after I graduated from elementary school that school removed the hour program we used to get to go down to the library and get a book read to us and check out some books to read.  It was a good little program for the kids, but they cut it out because they didn’t have the funding for it.  It felt like the kids were getting their rights taken away from them that they disserved. 

            I do also believe that it doesn’t make a big difference whether you are wealthy or poverty stricken disrespect happens all across the board.  In the world of poverty you are living to make ends meet and when you through a child among it they tend to get left out.  This may be because the parents are always working or they are always fretting on making it by and so the child may go with out certain major things in life.  Yet, a similar thing happens where children get left out, in the wealthy families too.  It may be because the parents don’t want to deal with the children so they hire a nanny or maybe they are just to busy with their own stuff they don’t stop to focus on the kids at all. 

            Yet, I do think there is a very minuet amount of people out there some that do love and respect their children.  I just think that the group is so small they are not being herd or respected them selves.  

America's Disrespect for Childhood: Response to Blog Prompt Two

 

I agree that our nation’s disrespect for childhood is best demonstrated in government policy and law. But instead of looking at the laws that govern the education system, I would like to rewind even further into development to the creation of the life itself. America’s views on and current laws regarding the practice of abortion are a transparent illustration of our regard for the significance of childhood and young life in general.

 

 If America truly viewed children as having worth and their contribution to society as legitimate rather than a burden that will simply cost time, energy, and resources most likely returning nothing, why would it be legal to end such a life before it began? We are not allowed to murder jobless, uneducated, maimed, or diseased adults if they consume too many assets or fail to impact society positively. Why then, is it appropriate to make a different assumption about our unborn children?

 

If America honestly held childhood in the utmost of positive regard, we should fight fervently and relentlessly to give each child an equal chance to experience childhood as we ALL did, and experience a better version of it. My argument is not one of whether the practice of abortion is right or wrong, moral or immoral, allowable or dis-allowable but simply an assessment of the implications of this decision and the insight it provides on America’s views towards children.

Children ARE respected

Although the article states that government has cut some funding for youth programs, I still believe children are respected.  I work for a youth program that helps at risk youth.  The company is called Youth Dynamics, and they have multiple different ways that they try to help youth that are at risk due to behavioral or mental health issues.   I know that children are greatly protected and thought about in school systems.  As a football coach at a high school I had to undergo over 10 hours of online training before I could work with these athletes.  I also had to complete a 2 hour training session on ways to spot out out of normal behavior of a child that is being molested and how to try and identify actions of someone who may be a child molester.  Also with youth dynamics I had to undergo multiple background checks before I could work with the children.  So I know that children are protected in that way.

I also believe that you can not blame the actions of today's youth on society's technical advancement.  R rated movies and graphic video games are made for ADULTS, not youth.  It is a parent's responsibility to make sure their child is not playing these games or watching these movies.  As shown from pages 61-63 of this article http://www.psychology.iastate.edu/faculty/caa/abstracts/2010-2014/12AW.pdf Research suggests that only 10% of violence is actually related to media violence.  Therefore; you can not blame violent behavior solely on media or government involvement with children.  Today's youth is respected just the same, or even more than in the past regardless of some cuts in funding.

The disrespect of childhood

I think that children are both respected and disrespected. I think that children who live in poverty are very much so disrespected. This can be seen even more vividly since the passing of the sequester. there have been majors cuts to early childhood education. In May National Public radio did a story on how the srquestration was effecting Head Start programs. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=213578203. It is widely believed that the early intervention in the best for children, but with the recent across the board budget cuts ( that turned out to not be so across the board) many children will not get the chance to have these early intervention services. This can also be seen in child protective services, in Montana the average case load for a CPS worker is around 50, many have more then this. There is no way that anyone could ensure the safety of that many children. CPS workers have been told that they can no longer work overtime which limits the hours in the day that they are able to work with families. This year the Montana legislature cut funding for 13.5 CPS workers, offices had to close and other offices were combine leaving many rural areas without a CPS worker within 50 miles.These is less funding for insurance for children as well as less funding for food stamps.

The children of the extremely wealthy don't seem to be too much better off. These children are often treated as accessories. Many of these children although are allowed every advantage in the world are often raise by a nanny and not their own parents and they have extreme stresses on them to do their best. In large cities children of the wealthy have to past tests to get into preschools. In this case childhood in many cases in taken away because of the need for parents to be able to say my child achieved this or that.

Prompt for the week of September 3rd (Due September 6)

The authors of one of your readings for this week argue that whereas Americans claim to love children, many policies and practices demonstrate quite the opposite. What are you thoughts on this claim?  If you agree, then point out several additional examples. If you disagree, provide a few examples that illustrate how Americans respect (and value) children and childhood. Make sure you explain your examples.

Be sure to answer in a new post.