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Children grow up differently now

 

We owe the children, for they exist by our choice
We owe the children, for they exist by our choice

Children today are born into a world we didn’t even imagine years ago.  There are of course many of the older generations who would find much wrong with the young people today.  In these judgments that arise from frustration, it is easy to lose sight of what the young people of today have to put up with.  The Internet has changed society at its most fundamental level – the individual.  Deeper still, even the beliefs of a person are challenged unlike ever before.

 

You have to admit, this is not the kind of challenge ever faced by humans of previous generations.  There used to a clear stage of life when a person entered into the world.  This would be after his or her initial preparation.  The family, friends, neighbors, and even strangers played a part.  Technology continued to evolve, and today it has become inseparable from human activity.

This puts the youth in a particularly challenging position.  They haven’t had the time to prepare for the world.  The world came charging at them, and there never was a chance to get ready like before.  The hostility, hate, and wars of the world came at the young just as powerfully as its beauty, love, and comforts.  The injustices of humanity confronted the very young long before they could form concepts of what is good, what is bad, what is right, what is wrong, and the multi-colored layers of human behavior.

While the very rare are willing to take the challenge of understanding this world, for the most part, the young surrender.  The children are the most affected.  In a world where grown, experienced, mature ones are finding it challenging, can the children be expected to act responsibly?  There really is great uncertainty confronting the most vulnerable among humans – the young and the children.  This being the case, a personal realization on the part of older ones is due.  Our behavior – I being one of the billions – is being witnessed.  Let’s try to set an example for the young, which even if it may not be inspiring, at least gives some reason for them to believe that we haven’t forgotten them.



These writings are inspired by the meeting with a young father and his little girl.  She came back from school and was very tired.  Made me remember the days of the past, and how the world has changed so much, so fast!

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