I have often sat and watched my son play. As he is enjoying himself and he’s deep in his fantasy land with his toys, I find myself pondering how difficult life is for my little man during these current tumultuous times within our nation. I remember my own childhood and think about the innocence I contained and honestly didn’t lose that innocence until I joined the military. I find that today’s children do not have the innocence people within my generation had or the generations before them. I use to be one of those parents that would say, “I had it much harder than you did at your age”! I find myself during these times rethinking that statement. I’m realizing that children growing up in America do not have it easy.

Our children have to deal with real issues such as War, not only on foreign soils, but within their own schools. I would have never fathomed having to go through a metal detector in order to get to homeroom. Our children have to deal with broken homes. Broken homes have always been a problem within America, I find it even more so true currently with the high divorce rates within our country. Children now face divorce more often as compared to a full family unit. This my friends is sad. I hear people constantly stating, children of today are so spoiled, selfish, etc., what I say to these statements are as follows, “Children of today are not spoiled, it’s the parents who have chosen to neglect their fatherly/motherly duties who are spoiled and selfish”.

Children of today have to deal with Pedophiles stalking them and murdering and raping them and more times to none, the Pedophile getting a slap on the wrist as compared to a good old fashioned “lynching” in which he/she deserves. Our children watch the great examples of “Anti-War” protestors maiming and destroying our American Flag. Our children are also more times to none denied the right to pledge allegiance to our American Flag in their schools. Our children are also denied the right to pray in school, I could go on and on with this list, what a pity.

I find that my own generation who are parents have majority-wise failed our children. I know there are minorities of parents out there who have not indeed failed their children miserably, but I find the majority of parents raising children within my generation have failed. We cheat on our spouses with no remorse of how this will affect our children, we hand our children weapons and allow them to hunt animals, we allow our children to play violent video games as well as allow them to watch violent programs on television, we also utilize our children as pawns during divorces. We no longer teach our children love of country, we teach our children to whine when they are in trouble at school as compared to just “sucking it up” and taking their punishment.

I would like everyone to carefully think about our children and the examples we set forth to them. We as parents within my generation need to know that doing the right thing is not always popular within our society, but you have to determine within your own heart in reference to “your” children, are you right? or society? We have created a cess pool cycle which creates victims not victors. We have created a society in which teachers can not even discipline children at school and parents can not discipline their children within their own homes. Of course I’m not speaking of parents beating their children, this is wrong, but a swat on the tail here and there from a parent never killed a child. Within our current times if parents give their children a swat on the tail out in public, they are faced with police intervention as well a “Child Protective Service” breathing down their necks and the realization of losing their children.

Our children of today are not failing our society, the parents of today are failing our society for it is not the children who are spoiled, it’s the shameful, selfish acts of parents who are creating monsters within our society. Children are not born monsters, they are conformed to their environments as well as products of their environments. Instead of buying your child a video game, buy them a book. Instead of allowing your children to surf the internet, have a game night within your home which is family oriented and a time for group discussions. Do not conform to a society in which has truly forgotten our children, be the parent your child/children deserve and you will find that child passing on the moral standards in which you have set forth. These are scary times within our nation for our children, let’s stop neglecting our parental duties and break this cesspool cycle in which we have formed for our youth. Once we realize it is truly up to us and that the future acts of generations which follow us is in our hands, only then can we ensure the stability of our children’s future as well as the generations after them.