Posted on 06/04/2008 9:36:48 PM PDT by a_chronic_whiner
I visited a fourth-grade class in a slum school recently. Since I’m a storyteller by trade, the teacher asked me if I’d tell the kids a story. Now I’m a good storyteller and an all-around charming guy, no doubt, but I wasn’t prepared for the degree of fascination I inspired. Rambunctious mischief ceased on the instant and resolved itself into riveted attention and awestruck stares. I was awfully pleased with myself by the time I was done.
“Don’t take it personally,” the teacher told me brusquely. “It’s just that they’ve never seen anyone like you before. A man—obviously tough—who’s not a gangster.”
I don’t know how tough I am—they were fourth-graders; I guess I could’ve taken most of them in a fair fight one-on-one—but that’s not what she was getting at. Her point was that you have to take just one look at me to see what, in fact, I am: an unapologetic, because-I-said-so, head-of-household male. They used to call us “husbands” and “fathers” back in the day. That’s what these kids had never seen.
The teacher told me that she once had to explain to the class why her last name was the same as her father’s. She dusted off the whole ancient ritual of legitimacy for them—marriages, maiden names, and so on. When she was done, there was a short silence. Then one child piped up softly: “Yeah . . . I’ve heard of that.”
I’ve heard of that. It would break a heart of stone.
(Excerpt) Read more at city-journal.org ...
My parents never checked up on me. (As I thought) They trusted me to get it done.
Congratulations, liberals. Another crowning achievement.
Ha! Lost In Space? We didn't have TV when I was in the 4th grade.
I hope you were able to catch Lost in Space at some point! LOL
That is a sad story. I remember when my oldest son was in 1st grade (about 15 years ago). They had a parents day thing where you came in and explained about your job. There were only a few parents there and I was the only male. When I got done I said something to the teacher about it. She said most of the kids came from single parent family’s. It broke my heart, I had never really thought about it before.
That was one of my favorite shows, too. “Run, Will Robinson! Run!” LOL.
Times have changed, but people did the wrong things in the old days, too. I think we were oblivious to it when we were kids, and our parents tried to protect us, to preserve our innocence: They didn’t tell us.
My mother would tell me things, though, when I hit the teen years. Secrets about friends and family, things that happened in her neighborhood when she was growing up, and so on. Those “good ol’ days” were not as good as we remember them.
My Mom was bound and determined to keep me in childhood as long as she could. I truly admire that love.
Just the difference between having a civilization and not having a civilization.
True, things really have gone off the deep end now. There is a big difference between people doing wrong in the old days, as opposed to those wrongs becoming legal and even celebrated today.
To clarify further: I think parents did the right thing in the old days by protecting our innocence. I don’t like what’s being taught to children today, the agenda that’s driven into them.
In sharing stories, my parents were careful to let me know what was right, what was wrong, and what was simply a mistake made by an imperfect person. I’m sure most parents did that. Their reaction to the story - condemnation, praise, or sympathy - helped to teach us values.
Condemnation is what’s missing in the conversation today with young people.
A friend who’s a teacher told me that of the 20 or so kids in her class, 18 of them have different names than their fathers/mothers.
Divorce/remarriage, seperation, single parent homes, relatives raising kids....
Sad. So sad. I might not have had the greatest childhood, but I wouldn’t want to be a kid nowadays.
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