I like the sentiments with this, though my beliefs lean more towards the Native American (Lakota) beliefs. Thanks for sharing this.

Heartily agree with all but the last paragraph, not being of that religion. The law has gotten way too overprotective on some things... and still falls short on protecting kids from some types of serious abuse. It's very hard on kids today. There is so much paranoia around that they are not allowed to socialize with other kids. There's a modern tendency to allow only structured adult-supervised play -- it's no wonder they glue themselves to computers, because abled children are now facing the same isolation I had as a disabled child who couldn't go out and play and lived too far from other children to socialize.

Internet socializing is real socializing. Kids need unsupervised play with peers, other kids who are their equals, chances to solve their own social problems and work things out themselves rather than always being told what to do by adults. It stifles creativity to have all that oversupervision, it raises people who aren't responsible for anything because they were never allowed to be responsible for themselves or go into situations where it's safe to make mistakes and bad decisions and learn from them.

The curfews are horrendous. I am so against the curfews, because tweens and teens get into bitter family conflicts and those can easily erupt into violence. But it is illegal for the underage person to walk away from that conflict and cool off, or walk away till the raging adult has cooled off. The damage has to be done before the law can intervene and it just doesn't when it's verbal or doesn't put them in the hospital.

As a teen I often went out late at night, two or three in the morning, walked a little way from the house to a nearby orchard and sat out watching the stars and composing poetry or just thinking about life. It was solitude and it was beautiful to be awake when the rest of the world slept, it was a chance to step away from all the pressures of the day and be alone with the universe. That's now become crime for anyone underage. I could not even choose to allow it if I were a parent, because the law would force me to stay out there with them -- when I am the last person they'd want to spend time with if what they need is time to be alone.

The legal demand that it MUST be the custodial parent puts an enormous burden on that parent at exactly the time in life when a teen would be turning to other adults -- friends of the family, other relatives. If a family has the old extended family structure with aunts and uncles in near walking distance and plenty of grandparents, none of those people can drive the kid home or take them out after hours, it must be the custodial parent -- the one that traditionally has the most conflicts with teens because that's today's pattern of culture.

A huge number of parents of well behaved, sane teens will suddenly start fault finding at any sign of separate personality on the part of the teen, setting unreasonable standards and Catch-22 situations to scapegoat the teen. I think some of that is that it's how parents deal with the emotional shock of letting go of their child, the relationship is so deep and important but by nature will change and that change is seen as the end of it. So it's breaking up nastily so the breakup hurts less. I think that may be an underlying reason the pattern perpetuates itself -- and I've seen it most often in families where the teen was studious, hardworking, ambitious in AP programs and studying round the clock to keep up with them on a schedule comparable to working two jobs, while maintaining household chores and trying to get along with parents who then find fault with every single thing, including anything short of A+ in all subjects -- or the way the teen does not have time for much family time after that and none at all for socializing with equals.

This is all going in a bad direction and it seems to get worse every year. I've got grandchildren and we may wind up homeschooling, ultimately the choice will be theirs. But it's going to take work to get around those laws and try to give them enough elbow room to have a happy, healthy childhood despite state interference.

--
Robert A. Sloan, writer and artist
Visit Explore-Oil-Pastels-with-Robert-Sloan.com, my oil pastels site!

I have a tendency to believe in the native american ways as well - but they believe in one God or many gods with one supreme being - Wakantanka (sorry about the spelling) who oversees everything - what is not to say that Wakantanka and God and Mohammed and all the other gods are one and the same just seen by different people's in different ways?

The quote was Jay Leno's, but I feel sort of appropriate with Christianity being attacked from all sides. I don't believe in organized religion per se.

But I did grow up the way the whole thing says and I did not go out and kill people and do other mean evil things just because both my parents had to work and were not always home to cater to my very whim or give me whatever I wanted. I went out and played with people not chatted with them on the computer, or sat glued to the tv set. Today it is different. The world would be a lot smaller without the computer and television, but we also weren't confronted with horror upon horror upon horror from around the world either. We took care of our own and solved our own problems and then took care of the rest of the world that we could take care of. At some point in time the rest of the world will have to stand up for themselves and take responsibility for their own lives. We did and we still are.

Your comment was very interesting to say the least. My grandmother was married to a Lakota Chief in South Dakota.

I was born in 1976 and I grew up in this way. You remind me with your journal on many things and experiences. I'm really glad I was born in this time and not later. ^^

--
Es ist immer etwas Wahnsinn in der Liebe. Es ist aber auch immer etwas Vernunft im Wahnsinn ~ Friedrich Nietzsche

And it's funny we're talking about how different people worship different types of Gods and Goddesses. Currently, I'm in the middle of a photo series called Natural Deity Series. I hope to have enough for an art show at Casa Chiapas here in San Antonio, but also I think, it might show how we all seek to connect to some form of divinity/spirituality. My final photo in the series is sure to stir at least a little controversy, so keep an eye on my work..hehe, take care,

Rod.

Rod,

Let me know when you are going to have the show so I can go to it. I find it interesting as well. Have always wanted to do a spiritual series of some sort. Thanks for the heads up!

Cool! It's planned for June '08 but I'll let you know as it gets closer, really appreciate the support. Be safe,

Rod.