Nice article. I myself, was a teenager in the 80s and was part of the "metalhead" crowd. Listened to bands like Sepultura, Slayer, and Cannibal Corpse. Today, I attend church regularly and desire to be more involved in church. In my youth and really until I was in my 40s I didn't see the point in church. I still listen to some of those bands though, but I do find bands like Skillet very good.
As for the smart phones and outside though.....that's going to take a culture change of great proportions. My wife is a Pre-K teacher and is responsible for receiving the kids out of the cars in the morning and making sure the correct child is put in the correct car in the afternoons. Too many of the kids come to school playing on a tablet or watching a movie. The parents aren't even engaging with them. Too many parents are not paying attention when they pick up their kids either as many times my wife opens the door only to see the parent on their screen and a screen waiting for the child once they sit down.
As for outside......I have come to the conclusion that, that is a dream or a fond memory. I have made it a rule that weather permitting.....and cold doesn't count.....my kids and I go outside and play everyday. We walk, ride bikes, or just kick the ball in the front yard. I have done this for approximately 20 years and I can safely say that I have seen maybe 100 times kids outside playing. Kids in my kids age group at the time.....just on my digits. If I kicked my kids out of the house to play.....they would be playing by themselves.
I've told stories of my youth like all parents do and my youngest once said......I wish I could do things like that around here with my friends. His friends unfortunately do not live near us.
Absolutely! I just had a minor row with my friends over the fact that the only way my son can play unsupervised with their kids is to get him a phone since they don’t live in our neighborhood.
I returned to public middle school teaching in 2000, after a two-decade stint at the bestest career: housewifery//mothering. Not long after my return I began to see the black clothes, long skirts, dyed hair, heavy silver-ish jewelry. One of my best 8th-grade Latin students was an adherent. A guidance counselor (Christian) shared cafeteria duty with me: we both noticed that when this child found a boy paying attention to her, and then accepted same as a 'boyfriend', her black attire moved toward color. Shorter skirts, too, as I recall. Strange, no?
How does this relate to a supposedly normal kid whose major teen angst was "Portnoy's Complaint?"
One feature of the church society was acceptable feminine prospects- my mother had warned me of the dangers of a "mixed" marriage when most of our attractive neighbours were Roman Catholics!
The "Incel" losers, video game experts, are a component of the problem, and I am still too old and incompetent to appreciate the dopamine surge from video success! Possibly restrict screen activity until obtaining a driver's licence?
The dearth of functional payphones has imposed the requirement for a personal mobile telephone, I reluctantly pack a flip-phone when I think I might need to bother somebody.
Wow thanks for this insightful article!!! Are you familiar with the work of Ezra institute? Having read a few of your substacks this am, I think you’d find agreement! https://www.ezrainstitute.com/
Not at all sure how we get the kids to rebel at society by giving God a try. Even some ministers are embracing God is a <lesbian, LGBT+++, etc>. If anything, we have a creator who wishes for us to create, not destroy. I see destruction of humanity at work within us. I do hope forgiveness arrives.
The children are not the only ones succumbing to the globalist/ WEF/corporate/ leftist ideology/ propaganda. Take a good hard look at the leadership in whatever church you belong to ( or are looking at joining)and see if they are modifying the Word to accommodate the tic tok social sensation of the day.Truth is not malleable or changeable to whatever the current “thing “is .The church leaders are to stick to the truth of Gods word . Many today unfortunately are not doing so .This probably sounds preachy and I do not mean it to be that at all ... It may be that in our current cultural mosh pit of anything goes that anyone that claims there is but one honest truthful path to respond to the world is immediately dismissed as closed minded and is automatically labeled as one of several “ isms”... one cannot change the truth to make it fit the culture, the culture either follows the truth or it doesn’t .We are now seeing a society that is in the process of untethering itself from basic (truth)biology/ reality.
Nice article. I myself, was a teenager in the 80s and was part of the "metalhead" crowd. Listened to bands like Sepultura, Slayer, and Cannibal Corpse. Today, I attend church regularly and desire to be more involved in church. In my youth and really until I was in my 40s I didn't see the point in church. I still listen to some of those bands though, but I do find bands like Skillet very good.
As for the smart phones and outside though.....that's going to take a culture change of great proportions. My wife is a Pre-K teacher and is responsible for receiving the kids out of the cars in the morning and making sure the correct child is put in the correct car in the afternoons. Too many of the kids come to school playing on a tablet or watching a movie. The parents aren't even engaging with them. Too many parents are not paying attention when they pick up their kids either as many times my wife opens the door only to see the parent on their screen and a screen waiting for the child once they sit down.
As for outside......I have come to the conclusion that, that is a dream or a fond memory. I have made it a rule that weather permitting.....and cold doesn't count.....my kids and I go outside and play everyday. We walk, ride bikes, or just kick the ball in the front yard. I have done this for approximately 20 years and I can safely say that I have seen maybe 100 times kids outside playing. Kids in my kids age group at the time.....just on my digits. If I kicked my kids out of the house to play.....they would be playing by themselves.
I've told stories of my youth like all parents do and my youngest once said......I wish I could do things like that around here with my friends. His friends unfortunately do not live near us.
Absolutely! I just had a minor row with my friends over the fact that the only way my son can play unsupervised with their kids is to get him a phone since they don’t live in our neighborhood.
There are companies now that make dumb phones - aka smartphones but without internet access, just the ability to make, you know, phone calls! ; )
We’re looking into that for sure! It just makes me so mad how complicated something so simple has become.
Great piece. I especially liked “childhood’s oldest enemy..the aap”. That is 100% spot on sadly!
"Clothe yourself and your children with the armor of God. Raise some rebels."
I love this- great article!
Thank you!
I returned to public middle school teaching in 2000, after a two-decade stint at the bestest career: housewifery//mothering. Not long after my return I began to see the black clothes, long skirts, dyed hair, heavy silver-ish jewelry. One of my best 8th-grade Latin students was an adherent. A guidance counselor (Christian) shared cafeteria duty with me: we both noticed that when this child found a boy paying attention to her, and then accepted same as a 'boyfriend', her black attire moved toward color. Shorter skirts, too, as I recall. Strange, no?
How does this relate to a supposedly normal kid whose major teen angst was "Portnoy's Complaint?"
One feature of the church society was acceptable feminine prospects- my mother had warned me of the dangers of a "mixed" marriage when most of our attractive neighbours were Roman Catholics!
The "Incel" losers, video game experts, are a component of the problem, and I am still too old and incompetent to appreciate the dopamine surge from video success! Possibly restrict screen activity until obtaining a driver's licence?
The dearth of functional payphones has imposed the requirement for a personal mobile telephone, I reluctantly pack a flip-phone when I think I might need to bother somebody.
Wow thanks for this insightful article!!! Are you familiar with the work of Ezra institute? Having read a few of your substacks this am, I think you’d find agreement! https://www.ezrainstitute.com/
Not at all sure how we get the kids to rebel at society by giving God a try. Even some ministers are embracing God is a <lesbian, LGBT+++, etc>. If anything, we have a creator who wishes for us to create, not destroy. I see destruction of humanity at work within us. I do hope forgiveness arrives.
The children are not the only ones succumbing to the globalist/ WEF/corporate/ leftist ideology/ propaganda. Take a good hard look at the leadership in whatever church you belong to ( or are looking at joining)and see if they are modifying the Word to accommodate the tic tok social sensation of the day.Truth is not malleable or changeable to whatever the current “thing “is .The church leaders are to stick to the truth of Gods word . Many today unfortunately are not doing so .This probably sounds preachy and I do not mean it to be that at all ... It may be that in our current cultural mosh pit of anything goes that anyone that claims there is but one honest truthful path to respond to the world is immediately dismissed as closed minded and is automatically labeled as one of several “ isms”... one cannot change the truth to make it fit the culture, the culture either follows the truth or it doesn’t .We are now seeing a society that is in the process of untethering itself from basic (truth)biology/ reality.