Posted on 07/29/2006 8:43:38 PM PDT by tbird5
Maybe it's the cyclist in the park, trim under his sleek metallic blue helmet, cruising along the dirt path... at three miles an hour. On his tricycle.
Or perhaps it's today's playground, all-rubber-cushioned surface where kids used to skin their knees. And... wait a minute... those aren't little kids playing. Their mommies—and especially their daddies—are in there with them, coplaying or play-by-play coaching. Few take it half-easy on the perimeter benches, as parents used to do, letting the kids figure things out for themselves.
Then there are the sanitizing gels, with which over a third of parents now send their kids to school, according to a recent survey. Presumably, parents now worry that school bathrooms are not good enough for their children.
Consider the teacher new to an upscale suburban town. Shuffling through the sheaf of reports certifying the educational "accommodations" he was required to make for many of his history students, he was struck by the exhaustive, well-written—and obviously costly—one on behalf of a girl who was already proving among the most competent of his ninth-graders. "She's somewhat neurotic," he confides, "but she is bright, organized and conscientious—the type who'd get to school to turn in a paper on time, even if she were dying of stomach flu." He finally found the disability he was to make allowances for: difficulty with Gestalt thinking. The 13-year-old "couldn't see the big picture." That cleverly devised defect (what 13-year-old can construct the big picture?) would allow her to take all her tests untimed, especially the big one at the end of the rainbow, the college-worthy SAT
(Excerpt) Read more at psychologytoday.com ...
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>>>I know the risk is not zero but what percent of child molestation are at bus stops? Almost all of them are people that the kids know, not strangers.
hmmm, good luck with that!
Me: I know the risk is not zero but what percent of child molestation are at bus stops? Almost all of them are people that the kids know, not strangers.
Calpernia: hmmm, good luck with that!
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Yep, its easier for people to "fear the stranger" than to recognize that the molester is more likely to be an uncle or a baby sitter or a little league coach.
What did he do? punch them in the face? No wonder the parents don't want to bring their kids back!!! Your kid sounds like trouble...
And you didn't read post 20?
And these wimps will certainly be no match for the Islamic fanatics much less the Criminal elements in our own Society which are being imported by the Administration in massive numbers. May God help us.
And our children were made wimps by the powers that be who import them.
Virginia's Portmann feels the effects are even more pernicious; they weaken the whole fabric of society. He sees young people becoming weaker right before his eyes, more responsive to the herd, too eager to fit in—less assertive in the classroom, unwilling to disagree with their peers, afraid to question authority, more willing to conform to the expectations of those on the next rung of power above them.
A child learning to appease external authority rather than learning to trust hiss and her own authority.
The stressful world of cutthroat competition that parents see their kids facing may not even exist. Or it exists, but more in their mind than in reality—not quite a fiction, more like a distorting mirror. "Parents perceive the world as a terribly competitive place," observes Anderegg. "And many of them project that onto their children when they're the ones who live or work in a competitive environment. They then imagine that their children must be swimming in a big shark tank, too."
There is no cut throat competition nor is competition a terrible thing. Though it may appear that way to "whimpified" parents. Competition is pursuit of self interest. It's not cutthroat revenge.
There are kids who are worth worrying about—kids in poverty, stresses Anderegg. "We focus so much on our own children," says Elkind, "It's time to begin caring about all children."
The author prescribes appeasing external authority of the establishment over internal authority of the individual.
It took eight pages for the author, Hara Estroff Marano, to support his (her?) final solution. Which is not a solution at all. But rather, a continuation of the problem.
>>And you didn't read post 20?<<
No, I didn't - that's terrible but not as unusual as it ought to be.
Excerpt from a different source:
http://www.nj.com/printer/printer.ssf?/base/news-8/1153978754247060.xml&coll=1
A representative of First Student, which serves schools throughout New Jersey, including the Andover, Green and Fredon areas, declined to comment. She referred questions about Christie to the busing company's regional office, which could not be reached for comment.
As part of the FBI sweep, officials searched 35 locations, including the homes and workplaces of suspects. The investigation was conducted by agents and task force officers in 24 FBI field offices in 20 states: Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Texas, Washington and Wisconsin.
.....true.....but in our day.....I'm 49, you could go play down the street.....walk to school or go out for Halloween without being molested, snatched etc.....I don't blame these days for watching the kids closer.....more whackos out there
>>NAMGLA<<
So is that a play on NAMBLA?
>>.....true.....but in our day.....I'm 49, you could go play down the street.....walk to school or go out for Halloween without being molested, snatched etc.....I don't blame these days for watching the kids closer.....more whackos out there<<
I know it can't go back - we played in every house and every back yard on the street except one old man's house. Kids aren't gonna know that world....
In May this year the body of a 13 year old girl was finally found. She disappeared from the bus stop. The bus's video camera showed her getting off the bus. The stop was almost in front of her house. She disappeared the week before Thanksgiving. Her parents both wish they'd have met that bus. A neighbor is charged with her murder.
Great book by the way.
AND more!
>>In May this year the body of a 13 year old girl was finally found. She disappeared from the bus stop. The bus's video camera showed her getting off the bus. The stop was almost in front of her house. She disappeared the week before Thanksgiving. Her parents both wish they'd have met that bus. A neighbor is charged with her murder.<<
That's horrible. Its a tragedy. And no matter when it happened I'm sure the parents would wish they had prevented it. But it was still a neighbor - there would have been other opportunities.
I don't particularly care if parent wait for the school bus - I care that we are so protective we are raising a generation harmed by our efforts to prevent harm.
>>>I care that we are so protective we are raising a generation harmed by our efforts to prevent harm.
And I absolutely agree with that. BUT, that environment was created that made this an issue. My children cannot play in front of our house without supervision. Gangstas walk the streets.
I never saw a real gangsta when I was growing up. Now, child molesters are registered within 2 blocks of our home.
I actually agree with you, I scanned the thread and by the time I got my response written and posted, I saw your point. Our society has been feminized and whimpified to the point of ridiculousness.
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