So, once again, things happen in ways that I didn't anticipate...and I am left unprepared.
I knew that middle school would be a change.
I knew that Mikayla would experience a lot of new things.
I thought it might be difficult.
I was right, sort of.
Mikayla is actually really enjoying middle school and having a great experience.
I, on the other hand, am having issues.
I fully expected Mikayla to come home from school full of sordid stories about life in middle school...but much to my horror...all the sordid stories have come from home!
Wait...read the rest.
No, there isn't anything unseemly happening here at the house, but rather, Mikayla has been given an assignment to read the newspaper everyday and pick one story to write about in her current events journal.
She has learned more terrible things in two weeks of reading the newspaper than I think she might learn her entire time in middle school!
Just a sampling of recent news articles:
There was one story recapping the events surounding a boy who had been held prisoner by a stranger for 4 years.Holy cow.
There was a dicussion about the government's awarness of the torture of terriorism suspects.
There was one detailing the investigation into a bioweapons researcher who condcuted anthrax attachs through the mail.
There was another about Iraqi Aid Workers accused of taking bribes.
There was one about the affects of a school shooting on the survivors.
Another about a DC tax official who stole 46 million dollars from the city.
And one about a mentally ill man who shot his wife to death and then killed himself.
What a world we live in.
There is deciet, treachery, murder, lying, and stealing everywhere we look.
It seems like every day the world grows darker...and I think it is only going to get worse.
I am sad that her innocence is being lost in this way, but I know I can't keep her from it forever...I just wish it could have lasted just a little longer.
And it seems more important than ever that we teach our children to look for the light...to be the light...to prepare them to live in the world, but not be of the world.
Are we doing enough?
7 comments:
With all the evil that is out there, it's no wonder that our children grow up too fast.
I guess that makes it even more important for us to try and make our homes a refuge from the world.
Another song pops into mind...
"It's the end of the world as we know it...", Right? It's true they have to grow up and learn about it all sometime, but for moms the time is always sooner that we thought or hoped. Keep doing all those primary answers and sharing your light with them, and they'll be okay until they have their own light.
I saw the most wonderful quote the other day.
"For nearly 6000 years, God has held most of you, in reserve to make your appearance in the final days before the Second Coming of the Lord."
-Ezra Taft Benson
Just makes me think if the man upstairs deemed us to wait that long we must be prepared to meet the stuff in front of us.
I'm with Stacey. God wouldn't put us here in this time and place unless he knew we could handle it. And now I will do something very Mormon and uncharacteristic for me. I'm giving you a scripture...
1 Nephi 3: 7-8
Rock on! love, Katie
Interestingly, I saw a documentary on PBS this past week about how we have become a society ingrained in fear because of all of the sensationalized news stories we hear, see, or read about, which makes many of us think that we live in a less safe (and by "less safe" I'm talking about physical safety) than in times past, when -- in reality -- life is much safer (physically speaking) for most of us than in prior periods of time. So I think we've also got to teach Mikayla that what she reads is not a full and complete picture of the world and that there is a lot of honest, nice people out there doing a lot of good things by, for example, serving and helping others.
On the spiritual side (which, unfortunately like most things in our day and age was completely ignored in the documentary), I agree with the previous comments that it is very dangerous in our world today, and not only do we need to teach our kids to hold fast to the light, but we need to do so firmly ourselves.
What do you think it say about us that our kids think the "Wii" is exercise? (Sigh...)
I think about this a lot as my children get older.
I think it matters that we take the time to talk about current events and the news with our kids.
I think it also matters that take the time to point out good news stories.
It also is up to us at times, to stand up for our children and ask the teacher to create an alternative assignment for our child.
For example, in 2nd grade, both Hannah and Haylee have brought home an assignment to watch the news and fill out a worksheet. In both cases, I have written a note attached to the assignment and told the teacher that they are not able to complete it because I do not allow them to watch the news.
This assignment for Mikayla is probably age-appropriate so I'm not making a judgement on that but as I was writing, it reminded me about that 2nd grade assignment and I wanted to share that experience as well as one my childhood.
When I was in 8th grade, my History teacher assigned us to research the Salem Witch Trials. One of the books we were required to read was very descriptive about that period in time and very descriptive about Witchcraft. As I started on the assignment, I felt that I should not be reading this book and that I should not be learning the details about witchcraft. I felt horrible and felt darkness all around me. The next day, I asked to speak to my teacher privately and told her my beliefs about God and how that book made me feel. She understood and created a different assignment for me so that I could still maintain an A in that class.
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