|
Today's
Meditation:
So just what kind of world are we preparing for our
children? What kind of children are we preparing for
our world? We'll be gone relatively soon, but what
kind of legacy are we leaving behind? In all
honesty, as optimistic as I want to be, I think that we're
not preparing our children very well at all.
Our younger generation is one that has all sorts of new
addictions created by marketers and vendors. They're
addicted to electronics, name brands, junk food, and
things like high-caffeine and high-sugar drinks that are
packaged with the lie "energy drink" printed on
them. Most of our youth feel entitled to things,
because that's what advertisers want them to feel, so
they've been feeding the kids the message that they are
entitled since the kids have been old enough to watch TV.
There are, of course, exceptions, and the reality is that
the exceptions are going to become the leaders, for
they'll be the only adults who are able to think for
themselves, think critically, and think outside of any
boxes that otherwise might contain them. What we
need to do if we want to give our children a world that
will be positive for them is to teach them now to be those
exceptions-- to leave the cell phones at home, to reject
the messages of want and need that advertisers continue to
force upon them, to avoid the many new addictions such as
texting and video games that are available to them.
What will our children's world be like if the world is run
by people who are addicted to things that keep them from
thinking for themselves? That's a question I ask
myself every day that I work with high school students,
and then I work extra hard to try to teach them how to
avoid the addictions and focus on their abilities and
dreams, and how to learn ways to make the most of those
abilities and to reach those dreams.
|
