Month: October 2017

“I believe the children are our are future
Teach them well and let them lead the way
Show them all the beauty they possess inside
Give them a sense of pride to make it easier…”

—Whitney Houston, The Greatest Love of All

Childhood is a time of innocence and imagination.  The best time of your life.  No worries. Just about being carefree and using your imagination.  The way it’s supposed to be.  This is the time when your mind is developing connections to the real world and lasting impressions are made; ones that will last a lifetime.

There was a time when we were reminded that “children are our future” and how they were the most important elements of our society.  Even Hillary Clinton wrote a book about it that was published in 1996 called “It Takes a Village” (referring to how it takes a village to raise a child.)

In other words, our society must look after these children and help them reach their full potential.  Children are the leaders of tomorrow.

Since then, she’s written other books.  Just like the title of Hillary’s latest book,  I need to ask, “what happened?”  Why are we seeing an increase in children being used by adults and taught about subjects their developing minds are not yet ready for?

Being made to participate in protests they are not old enough to understand or represent their parent’s unfulfilled dreams.  This has resulted in many kids not being allowed to enjoy their childhood or to develop their own understanding of the world naturally and gradually.

The mature concepts that kids are exposed to are more far-reaching than we realize.  This can be in the form of the internet, movies, song lyrics but also from the very adults that they trust the most.  In the long-run it can be damaging to a child to be used by those that they trust the most for the purpose of virtue signaling a political cause, to make money, or be the embodiment of that adult’s own unfulfilled dreams.

I’ve even seen celebrity parents using their own kids as a form of political virtue signaling.  This further creates the impression that this is a normal thing to do.  However, these children are too young to understand what they are participating in or they are being given certain biases before they are old enough to learn critical thinking skills and decide for themselves.

Last week, there was a modern art exhibit in Brazil where a man lay naked on the floor while young girls were asked to touch him.  He was later arrested but this sort of thing should not have even occurred in the first place.  The museum should not have allowed such an exhibit.  What chills me about the image of it below, shared by millions on Twitter, is all of the bystanders who stood there and did nothing while this was happening.  Some are even filming it or taking pictures as if it is just another spectacle.

Both in the images and the video of this incident, I saw no attempts made to remove the child, nor any obvious concerns about her seeing and touching a naked man at such a young age.

Over the weekend, there was a pro-choice march in Ireland.  One of the images was a  child, so small that she could not even hold the sign up by herself.  The sign read, “My body, my choice.”

How in the world would she even understand what this means?  This isn’t something a small child her age would say or think.  Her presence there was literally pointless and irresponsibly overtook of her normal activities such as playtime or napping.

Not only are we teaching kids about adult things too early, we are also teaching them to hate others and not show respect.  Teaching biases before they are old enough to think for themselves in an informed and critical manner.  It’s almost as if we are teaching them what to think, in an attempt to mold them into our own image, and not how to think (for themselves).

Not only is the information inappropriate many times, but the participation itself in protests and rallies is very stressful.  Hours in the weather conditions like chilly days, rain, or in the hot sun, lots of commotion everywhere with people angrily yelling, chanting or hurling obscenities at each other and constantly being forced to hold up a sign when all they want to do is go play.

Some protest rallies are more peaceful than others but other rallies can turn violent.  Then there are ones where the adults get even more extreme.  Like in this unsettling image below.  Someone, please tell me these kids are wearing shorts, at least.  I didn’t want to go there, but look at how it was being presented!

Now I do realize that not everyone is treating kids this way or would even approve.  When I was growing up, I was insulated from anything deemed to be inappropriate for my age group.

Never was I taught about the biology of procreation, sexual orientations, horrors of animal abuse, or taught to hate our President.  I was even kept from hearing profanity.

Everything was wholesome and clean. As a society, we have implemented protections for our youth by devising rating systems and parental controls on movies, TV shows, publications, websites, and music.  We also put age restrictions on certain substances, activities and even amusement rides.

There’s a good reason for these protections.  For example, when it comes to premature exposure to our sexual processes, according to Carolyn C. Ross M.D., M.P.H, “Early exposure to sexual content in the media may have a profound impact on children’s values, attitudes and behaviors toward sex and relationships.”

Other ways in which kids are being kept from experiencing a normal childhood is through competitions such as beauty pageants or other talent-based forums that may lead to a career.  Now don’t get me wrong.  I think kids developing a talent or skill and then competing to win is a good thing.  It teaches dedication, persistence, discipline and so forth.

What I am concerned about is when it goes so far that it takes over the child’s life.  I’m talking about kids who spend all of their waking hours working.  Doing activities to accomplish their performance goals such as practicing, rehearsing, sitting in a chair for long hours while they have aesthetic procedures done or traveling to various venues for competitive or promotional purposes.

Michael Jackson is the first famous person that comes to mind for me.  Later in life, many thought he was a very eccentric and bizarre individual.  However look at what his childhood was like.

“I remember going to the recording studio and there was a park across the street and I’d see all the children playing and I would cry because it would make me sad that I would have to work instead.”

“God bless my father because he did some wonderful things and he was brilliant, he was a genius, but one day he said, “If you guys ever stop singing I will drop you like a hot potato.” It hurt me. You would think he would think, “These kids have a heart and feelings.” Wouldn’t he think that would hurt us?…….. You don’t say something like that to children and I never forgot it.”    –Michael Jackson

Did this have a profound effect on Michael’s early childhood development?  Well, the proof comes later in his life when he becomes an adult.  Many say he was eccentric or bizarre.  Lot’s of plastic surgeries to appease his own distorted self-image and many purchases made to recreate a childhood that was stolen from him.

He felt very isolated and had not developed the skills to make social connections as most people do.  Here, he’s describing how he coped:

 “I suffered a lot in that way. I knew that something was wrong with me at that time. But I needed someone … That’s probably why I had the mannequins. I would say because I felt I needed people, someone, I didn’t have … I was too shy to be around real people. I didn’t talk to them. It wasn’t like old ladies talking to plants. But I always thought I wanted something to make me feel like I had company. I always thought, “Why do I have these?” They are like real babies, kids, and people, and it makes me feel like I am in a room with people.”                                                                                                                                     –Michael Jackson

There were many statues around his Neverland mansion property and when he passed away, they found the mannequins and superheroes he had kept for his prosthetic “company”.  He was also known for having lots of real children around, maybe since they were the most open-minded or non-judgemental.  Yes, he was accused of having them around for more nefarious reasons, but we won’t go into that now.

A person’s mental development can be adversely affected by simply injecting the wrong experiences into a child’s life or keeping that child from experiences they need in order to develop various attributes necessary in life.  Michael was certainly a good example of that.

Another activity that not only robs kids of their childhood, but distorts their self-image in the process, are beauty pageants.  It may seem like fun at first to a little girl, being treated like a princess and made to look prettier, but sitting for hours in a chair to have your hair, makeup, and spray tan applied becomes grueling.  All this to parade around in skimpy outfits for hours to scrutinizing eyes cannot be very pleasant.

I mean, look at the kids in beauty pageants.  Nevermind the phony smiles and look deep into their little eyes.  Do the kids look like they are having fun?  Or do they really just have the blank expressions of their submission to this form of slavery?Still, another point I’d like to make, what about the possibility of pedophiles in these audiences as the young girls (and sometimes boys) are being objectified.

Still, another point I’d like to make is what about the possibility of pedophiles lurking in these audiences as the young girls (and sometimes boys) are being put on display and objectified?

Pageants kind of remind me of cross-dressing. Both are creating a false image of perfection and flamboyancy.   Here is yet another example of normalizing something that was once considered taboo as acceptable, and even normal.

Below is drag-queen who calls herself “Lil’ Miss Hot Mess” that visits kindergarten classrooms to teach kids about the transvestite world. She attempts to teach kids acceptance of transvestites while another child, also below, has become inspired to actually be a drag queen.

“Can everyone say, ‘When I grow up, I want to be a drag queen’?” —Drag Queen Lil Miss Hot Mess.

I don’t know about you, but none of this seems particularly healthy to me.  Hard to imagine that any parent would want this as a lifelong lifestyle choice for their child.  “A new study released by National Center for Transgender Equality shows that 30 percent of transgender people have experienced homelessness and 40 percent have attempted suicide.” —By Amanda Prestigiacomo of the DailyWire

Some transgendered persons have become parents themselves.  This comment from a drag queen parent about her toddler child still disturbs me, “He is pretty butch—we call him Fratticus,” she says. “I’m always pushing a tutu on him, but he’s, like, ‘No.’ ” —Also from the same article written by Amanda Prestigiacomo of the DailyWire.

Speaking of the press, the mainstream media has started glorifying children who wish to emulate the drag queens by featuring them or putting them on the covers.  Expanding the reach of it’s exposure and creating a false impression of normalcy.

It’s pretty shocking if you ask me.  To me this looks like a boy sitting in a psychiatrists office more than a normal part of life.

Most of these poor lifestyle choices and misguided appropriation of children are really from those on the “left” or the post-modern liberals, seen so prevalently today.  Luckily, most people don’t yet accept this as a normal lifestyle behavior for kids and there are many  laws in place, such as child-labor laws.

However, as with the image of adults standing around doing nothing while a young girl touches a naked man lying on the ground, people are slow to react.  My hope is that more people will speak up and step in to protect our children and enable them to grow up in a safe, sane, healthy environment.

 I say, let kids be kids and fight for their future.

Remember…

“Our greatest natural resource is in the minds of our children.”
–Walter Elias Disney

ღ Leah ღ