It's funny I never thought that I would write an article like this ever. I find it funny that now, like my elders, those that are wiser and in some cases happen to be older than me, talk about "in days gone by." Today, I am having one of those days thus I want to say to the new millennium, Gen, iGeneration, Gen Tech and beyond Mom and Dad, please stop thinking the world revolves around you and by default your children.
Recently, my family and I went to a water slide event in the heart of our hometown. As you can imagine the line was longer than you could envision. There were parents of all ages with kids of all ages. But one family stood out, why? Well this was a family of about 7 or 8 (unsure if they were all part of a nuclear family) that continuously cut the line not once, not twice, not three times but a whooping 5 times before most of us who had stood in line no less than an hour, to slide just once (had even had a turn). This upsets me for three reasons:
It teaches that those who don't play by the rules WIN
As a parent raising children to live a life playing by the quote on quote rules, it teaches them, the age-old adage that nice people finish last. Now I know there is an element of life that is not fair. But there use to be a common thread within the fabric of society that we could all agree on was an area of common ground. But in today's age of perpetual selfies and self-videos and self-love and care, a message of "to hell with the rest of them" seems to be the new way of operating and quite frankly, I believe this is a dangerous territory
It teaches that some people are better than others
Now as a Godly woman I recognize that even the Bible had kings and queens and their descendants were slated to be blessed and highly favored for generations to come. But we are created equal in essence. We all bleed the same and if you are not a king/queen, and if we all assign ourselves an air of self-importance, then there will be dissension. Simply because I would cut the line, you would cut the line and there would be no order
It teaches a total and utter disregard for the hierarchy of life (i.e. elders).
Not only did those children and their parents cut in front of other children but they cut in front of other adults. This is why the fabric of community is steadily declining. Now comes my "in days gone by" comment, children and adults would show respect (adults mutual). We could correct, look out for one another kids. But in this instance, the parents were right there alongside their children teaching them that the world revolves around me and you. This is why I believe that we have resolved ourselves into believing now that the school system should correct each other's kids and if they fail, it's the parents' fault and then the legal system will do the rest.
Life is not that simple. It never really was. But all I can say is we have to teach our kids that our worlds may revolve around them but the rest of the world does not. As up and coming generations we do our kids a disservice when we are unable to correct, guide and teach them. So knock it off! The world doesn't revolve around you or your children!
