We have these two neighbor boys, about eight or nine, and they drive me nuts. If we're playing outside and I see that one or both of them are about to venture outdoors I have to fight the urge to begin to gather up my impressionable chicks and go inside. They are rough and they have no discipline. One, the leader of their dynamic duo, is into extreme everything. He scales the playground equipment like he was born a monkey in the jungles of the Amazon. He pays no heed to those around him. Once he decided to cross the monkey bars, from which the swings are hanging and on which two younger girls were already swinging. He kicked one in the head. Didn't faze him. The other boy is a follower and does what the other likes.
Now, I don't know if I'm being too sensitive and not accepting that boys will be boys, but I think I reached my limit of tolerance when boy #1 started bringing out his Nerf guns and they would "gun down" the little kids. I had enough when they pointed their guns at my 3 year old, right in his face, and gunned him down. There was something so utterly disturbing about those two older boys, pointing their guns at my baby who, with a grin of excitement on his face because the big boys were playing with him, giggled and laughed. I told them not to point their guns at my children, EVER, and boy #1 said, "Oh, but there's nothing in them!" I said, "I know, but don't do it." He then proceeded to appoint Aidan the part of FBI agent and they were Bounty Hunters. Yeah. I quickly distracted my kid with some other game.
In my book, guns are not toys. At the very least, since boys tend to play with toy guns whether they are provided or not, guns should not be pointed at people. There is enough violence in this world without our children playing at games they don't fully understand.
On a related note (related only because I am appalled at the behavior of children these days), we were at the park the other day. It was about time for school to get out and eventually some junior high boys ambled over. Well, I suppose they could have been Freshmen or Sophomores, they are looking younger and younger to me. Anyway, they came over to this playground with little kids and just started acting like they owned the place with no consideration for anyone else. They were tossing tennis balls as hard and as high as they could and not catching them with no regard to the heads of the little kids that could easily intercept them. They commandeered the playground equipment and were generally disrespectful. You could tell they thought they were pretty awesome.
It just makes me sad. It seems like I see that kind of behavior a lot in kids. Kids are self-centered by nature, but it seems to be worse. The general lack of rules and discipline is disheartening. I overheard a few of the girls at work talking about teen pregnancy and one girl said, "I know of at least 10 girls that are pregnant in my high school alone." Ten?!!? Oh. My. Gosh. I am so terrified of what my children are going to have to deal with and I am even more terrified that I won't be able to properly guide them in making good choices.
What do you think? Not about me raising my kids in a decent manner, but about kids these days? Have you seen the same things I have? Are you equally appalled and/or terrified?
4 comments:
It IS terrifying. I have had similar experiences with my children and those HUGE kids. Once Conor had to go up and tell this kid to leave Chas alone. I just can't believe how they don't have boundaries or respect. I am bound and determined to have manners!
I totally agree. but I get up and tell those stinkin teenagers to quit it. (which can be scary, some of them are huge!) My littlest brother is a sophomore in HS and he tells crazy stories of what the kids at school are doing. And he goes to PC! I have a hard time believing it. He does exaggerate (he is 16) but I am sure some of it is true and its scary!
Seen it...hate it...totally agree with you. It's so sad to see how horrible kids are these days and the kids who AREN'T that way totally get pegged as being that way and have no chance. There is a group of boys who play football in the clearing across from my house. Most of them are elementary school or middle school age, but there is one big oafy teenager that orders them all around and yells at them. It makes me want to go over there and slap him around and tell him to pick on someone his own size. Actually, stop picking on anyone and get a stinking hobby to occupy your time. Tyler idolizes those kids cause he LOVES sports and I don't even want to let him outside when they are out there because of the foul language, and the fact that they play in the streets and just stare if a car is coming and don't move out of the way. We as parents are going to have to work a million times and hard to keep our kids from turning out that like. And you go ahead and use your mom powers to get the playground kids to stop being brats...if you can.
Yesterday I was just thinking about Respect and Reverence. The lack of it in our society. So when reading your post I thought I would share something I read sometime ago about families. Our children take their flight into the future with our thrust and with our aim. And even as we anxiously watch that arrow in flight and know all the evils that can deflect its course after it has left our hand, nevertheless we take courage in remembering that the most important mortal fact in determining the arrow's destination will be the stability, strength and unwavering certainty of the HOLDER of the BOW. So I say BE strong, Be believing, Be loving and keep praying. Because they are going to need us no matter what the the other kids dish out!!
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