Image via Windwood Farm
I thought a lot before posting this entry since it has nothing to do with design or inspiration like our other posts, well, maybe inspiration in a way, but this has to do with something that I witnessed and disliked and had to share.
The other day I was in a toy shop. A man and his son, who could not have been more than 12 years old, were next to me also looking at toys. I overheard the boy asking his father if they can buy a certain toy and the father said no because it was too expensive. To my utter shock, the boy asked his father if they could not afford it because of the economic situation. What the H…??? I could not help but ask the boy were did he hear about the economic situation from. He said that all his friends were saying that everyone will now become poor. I could not believe it.
I have watched many TV shows and read many articles saying that we as individuals along with the media are not helping with the current situation, that we are only making things worse. For it to reach a 12 year old and affect his way of thinking, I will have to agree. I think that is a bit too much, Don't you think?
I am not about to embark on an economic discussion since I may not be equipped to do so, nor am I about to discuss how people should raise their children, but I am just wondering, is this what we want our children to grow up with? What did we do to burden a 12 year old with the shape of the economy? It is already a burden on us, adults, so why pass it on to a person that will neither comprehend the problem, nor assist in resolving it even if he thought about it. We will only provide a bleak outlook. Is this what we want to teach our children? Are we raising a whole generation that thinks in terms of “lack” rather than abundance? Should we, maybe, watch what we tell our children, at least during these times. What happened to having great intensions, positive thinking and attracting what we want that only until last year was the biggest thing to talk about. If we are to believe that we form our perceptions of life based on the circumstances we grow up with and from people around us, mainly our parents, then we are giving our children a lot of issues to deal with when they are adults.
9 comments:
Great picture :-)
There's enough time to deal with unpleasant issues when you're an adult. Kids needs to enjoy being kids -- the best times of my life were when I was in elementary school and didn't have a care in the world :-)
That being said, it's good for kids to be aware of what's going on in the world around them to some degree. They do need to understand that life isn't all fun and games, and that not everything in life will be handed to them. So teach them a little about the real world, but let them still enjoy being kids :-)
Thanks for sharing your thoughts on my dining room :-) I'll take one Wave server to go in front of the window, please :-D And yes, that's really what my living room looks like -- although it's much dustier and messier at the moment ;-)
Kelly
I do agree with you on this issue. Kids need to know the value of money and how hard it is to make it. But world economy should be presented to them (and to us...)in a balanced, informative way.
Instead we are all bombarded by pessimistic views and catastrophic scenarios (which only help to sell newspapers...)
It is really hard to believe that a 12 year old child is already living with economic panic and closing his future opportunities with thoughts of poverty.
Internet has giving us the doors to blog and express our thoughts but also it has become a new pandora box - where the global news can be expose at any time so anybody knows what is happening everywhere. Positive things happen but also negative ones. I think we are also loosing our regional identity and the fact that we are becoming global the problem of EUA is now the problem of the rest of the world. It is not a problem to put in the head of a 12 year old - the father should say it is not due the economic situation - I can not afford it and explain why so the kid as Albarosa says learn the value of the money, but this way they don't plant the seed of failure in a child's mind.
I agree completely and I'm glad you mentioned this. I have two younger brothers (much younger than I) and my parents explained to them that the economy is going through some tougher times, but that doesn't mean that we have to stop living happy and well, it just means cutting back a bit. Instead of going out to dinner once a week, perhaps it's once every 2 weeks. Things like that. However, it's not something we discuss in an overly negative way.
I think it's healthy for a family to cut back from time to time and enjoy the little pleasures...it makes you appreciate them far more!
There should be some sort of percentage content cap on the news...somehow to restrict their coverage of one single thing. I know...not realistic, but they are not understanding the responsibility they have.
Will you send me your url again? Your posts are old again on my sidebar.
The same thing happened to your link on our sidebar -- the last post that appears on our sidebar is from 4 weeks ago. It's a great post, but I want to keep up with your most recent ones!! :-)
Kelly
I owe so much to my parents for always making our home full of love and good things. I knew that there were bigger homes, better cars but never could I imagine a home more full of giving. I hope to impart that to my children. Where there is love, we need to put more, where there is hate, we need to put love.
Just because of the current economy, we all need to focus on what is important. Value people first!
I loved this post and your sensitivity shows.
pve
I always say that the lucky ones are the ones that grow up in positive homes full of love, happiness and content regardelss of their financial background. Thank you all for taking the time to read and comment on this post.
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