Have you ever heard of "monkey see, monkey do?" Well, it's true. I have four younger siblings, and I know they all watch how I act and respond to different things- especially my little sister. She thinks I hung the moon and the stars. I have to make sure I don't say things I shouldn't around them and try to explain to them why being kind and respectful is important every chance I get because they're like sponges. They absorb everything I do. For example, one of my little brothers made me pull into a parking lot so he could give the rest of his McDonald's chicken nuggets and barbecue sauce to a homeless man we saw because he saw me create a giant container of food to keep in my car to give away to the homeless. I was so proud of him and it made me feel great that I have a positive influence on him.
In this day and age, we have 11 year old children who try to act like teenagers and adults. They are just babies, but because of how the world is now, and who they watch while growing up, they think it's acceptable and "cool" to post half naked photos of themselves and photos of them holding alcohol on social media for everyone to see, to say ugly words and to dress inappropriately. There are even children "dating" and saying "I love you" at really young ages. All I can think of when I see this is, "Who is letting them do this? Who is telling them that this is okay? Who is showing them that this is what love is?"
Children need good role models. Even adults need someone to look up to sometimes, too. I think it's time that my generation starts being what the younger generation needs. It's as if kids are never really kids anymore. We need to teach them that it's okay to grow up slowly and gracefully and that God is always with them. They need to know that you don't have to flaunt your body or say inappropriate things for people to like you. They need to know that doing well in school and being kind to everyone is what they should be focusing on instead of how many likes they get on a post, who is wearing what, and what boy or girl they can talk to next. We need to be the role models because we're the young adults who they are watching.
I will never forget the day one of my friends told me that a girl who went to my high school that she was in a play with told her that she has always looked up to me. I had never even spoken to the girl, yet she looked at me as a role model. To this day, I'm still not quite sure what I did to be this girl's role model, but that just goes to show that you never really know who is watching.
