I saw a cartoon like picture with an attached saying here on Facebook. The cartoon character is Yosemite Sam holding his six guns. The caption said something to the effect of, generations of kids watched gun violence every Saturday morning but never went and shot up there schools. What changed ? I left my casual comment along with others.
My comment was a simple one, as I like the simple answers, what has changed is consequences. Now when I was a kid I knew that Yosemite Sam shooting things up wasn't real. I knew that real guns killed things. I knew that once something was dead, it was dead. The best you could pray for was heaven and heaven isn't here on earth ! I and my contemporaries also knew that hitting someone with a hammer or blowing them up with dynamite wasn't really funny. We also knew about consequences for doing the things you should not do. These things included your homework,your chores,brushing your teeth,not paying attention,being disrespectful and using violence to solve a problem. Yes, there were consequences to be paid. Justice was swift and sure. Sometimes you received justice just for looking at Mom or Dad the wrong way. Don't you raise your eyebrows to me young man ! And you had best wipe that smirk off your face right now.
There was little arbitration. Things were quite direct. This what was expected and any shortfall of that mark was met with consequences. It is not enough to be held accountable, something you hear a lot about now a days, but the settling of the account is what is of importance. Suffering the consequences is how Mom always put it.
As children we were not told we would be treated any different when it came to these consequences. You would go to jail ! We weren't told about Juvenile courts and courts of our peers and all that stuff. We were not told we would be forgiven because we were just kids. No sir, you do something real bad, you're going to the big house. They are locking the door and you are never getting out. Going to prison was just that and it wasn't reserved for any specific age group ! You mess up and get a record boy and you will never get a decent job either. People don't hire criminals. You had best get with the program.
I also think we push the kids today into these competitive positions way too early. Kindergarten , a half day deal when I was a kid, at age five was enough stress. Now we are sending our children to pre-school,pre-K and even before that. We send them off to deal with strangers in a strange world. It is true that we all learn at different rates and mature at different rates. I just think we need to allow a little more time for social development before shipping them off to any " school. " The whole separation from Mom and the home is a big stress. On top of that they are being " graded " and don't think they aren't aware of it. They know who is being favored and who is not.
Yes I think the succeed at all costs attitude is partly responsible. The excusing of bad behaviors and not making the children pay for those mistakes contributes. Push them into a world of strangers and when they are home ignore them. Allow those children to become immersed in violent video games and combine that with the glorification of criminals. Show them, on the news, that the consequences aren't that bad. You will be, at worst, sent to a hospital for treatment of a disorder. You can kill but not be killed.
Yes my response is just that. What changed ? The consequences have changed.
My comment was a simple one, as I like the simple answers, what has changed is consequences. Now when I was a kid I knew that Yosemite Sam shooting things up wasn't real. I knew that real guns killed things. I knew that once something was dead, it was dead. The best you could pray for was heaven and heaven isn't here on earth ! I and my contemporaries also knew that hitting someone with a hammer or blowing them up with dynamite wasn't really funny. We also knew about consequences for doing the things you should not do. These things included your homework,your chores,brushing your teeth,not paying attention,being disrespectful and using violence to solve a problem. Yes, there were consequences to be paid. Justice was swift and sure. Sometimes you received justice just for looking at Mom or Dad the wrong way. Don't you raise your eyebrows to me young man ! And you had best wipe that smirk off your face right now.
There was little arbitration. Things were quite direct. This what was expected and any shortfall of that mark was met with consequences. It is not enough to be held accountable, something you hear a lot about now a days, but the settling of the account is what is of importance. Suffering the consequences is how Mom always put it.
As children we were not told we would be treated any different when it came to these consequences. You would go to jail ! We weren't told about Juvenile courts and courts of our peers and all that stuff. We were not told we would be forgiven because we were just kids. No sir, you do something real bad, you're going to the big house. They are locking the door and you are never getting out. Going to prison was just that and it wasn't reserved for any specific age group ! You mess up and get a record boy and you will never get a decent job either. People don't hire criminals. You had best get with the program.
I also think we push the kids today into these competitive positions way too early. Kindergarten , a half day deal when I was a kid, at age five was enough stress. Now we are sending our children to pre-school,pre-K and even before that. We send them off to deal with strangers in a strange world. It is true that we all learn at different rates and mature at different rates. I just think we need to allow a little more time for social development before shipping them off to any " school. " The whole separation from Mom and the home is a big stress. On top of that they are being " graded " and don't think they aren't aware of it. They know who is being favored and who is not.
Yes I think the succeed at all costs attitude is partly responsible. The excusing of bad behaviors and not making the children pay for those mistakes contributes. Push them into a world of strangers and when they are home ignore them. Allow those children to become immersed in violent video games and combine that with the glorification of criminals. Show them, on the news, that the consequences aren't that bad. You will be, at worst, sent to a hospital for treatment of a disorder. You can kill but not be killed.
Yes my response is just that. What changed ? The consequences have changed.
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