Reclaiming America's Children

With the surge of technology that has embraced our children as it's own and has subsiquently provided our children with an alternate set of morals and values that most of today's youth have chosen to mold their innocent and plyable lives after, I emplore every parent to reclaim their children and send them embarking on a new, more healthful journey down this highway we call life.

I know I am not alone in raising children that have seen more failing grades than I ever imagined, endured more conversations with snide remarks and "whatevers" than I ever knew, and tried to discipline rowdy children who threatened to report my soft spanking as that of "child abuse". I am sick and tired of trying to win a war against my children that technology has waged.

Where have we gone wrong? Most of us with children in Elementary through High School were brought up in the 1980's and early 90's. We, of course, didn't have the technology that is lurking around the corner ready to consume another child with it's vile and vulgur demeanour and it's promise to make them the center of the universe, which is a big promise that all youngsters long to make real.

We were brought up in the early MTV generation. MTV was bad enough in our days, but it is now filled with nearly-pornographic images that our children try to emulate, much as we did with the original MTV in our day. Of course in our day, we tried to emulate Michael Jackson's moon walk or Madonna's clothing style. Now our children are trying to figure out ways to have sex in the bathroom of their Middle Schools, because that is what MTV teaches them is "cool".

It's not only MTV and the freely ucensored television industry that plagues us. They are a drop in the bucket. Kids are given cell phones with picture capbilities and are more often than not, photographing themselves in compromising positions and sending their photos to their friends which often times end up on My Space or You Tube.

They are given free access to the internet and are able to access anything they please. They have their own web space that is obtainable without their parent's permission, on which their friends can post filthy messages and photos as they please and more often than not, the parents cannot even see their child's web page because they have devised clever ways to mask their location from their parents. These web pages are not easily removed either, thanks to the vast availability of alternate email addresses that can be created for free with no parental consent which can be used to create these web pages.

Our children are overwhelmed with the technology that is portrayed and advertised as being "the norm". They are so pressured to fit into "the norm" that they set aside the values and morals and the importance of education that we as parents have taught them, and set their own standards to be an all-inclusive member of the "technology generation".

As parents, we must reclaim our children. Turn off the television, confiscate the phones, disconnect the internet. Let's teach our children the right way to live before we slowly and responsibly introduce any of these things back into their lives. Stop trying to prove your love to them by buying them the most recent cell phone or iPod that has gone on the market. Show them your love by spending time with them and proving that you care about their future.

Our children must learn and know and honest right from wrong in order to be positive members of society. They cannot think that Brittney Spears' latest incident has anything to do with their own life. They must be able to make a disconnect between what the media and entertainment industry is telling them is right and what is actually good and wholesome. We must reclaim the minds of our children, because our country will be run by them within the next 20 years.