A Brave New World??

A few weeks ago, Dude and Hubby were at a Scout meeting. The boys had been sent outside for some reason and the adults were sitting discussing plans and such. At some point, Dude came back up to Hubby and told him that he wanted to go home and never wished to see any of them again. He had still not calmed down once home quite a bit later.

Discontent with his new troop has been building for several months. It was something he seemed determined to overcome but he finally had his fill. So last week and tonight, they are visiting new troops.

My son is very determined to get to Eagle. He figured he could do that even if his troop didn't care about working together toward it for all the boys -- and that was true. He was at a point where he had fewer things to finish and most could be done independently. What he got sick of was the attitudes of his peers.

They were apparently a little too much "South Park" for him. And they weren't interested in listening to anyone -- not the boy leadership nor the adults.

What is truly disturbing to me is that I see more and more of this in children all the time. I don't understand why people encourage their children to behave this way. And, believe me, it is encouraged.

When the Chick was younger, she loved to watch the Jackie Chan cartoon that was on. But I noticed the more she watched, the more smart mouthed she became with me and other adults. It was banned on a temporary basis when I informed her that watching the sassy, smart-mouthed niece, Jade (I believe her name was), and acting like her were two different things. When it didn't improve, it was banned for good.

And I became more aware of the characters, even in CARTOONS, and how they behaved. If they showed the same disrespectful, smart-mouthed, and mocking behavior that seems to be even more prevalent in everything on television now, we had a talk. Almost everyone of them ended up banned.

I wasn't alone, I found out. Other parents I knew were doing the same as they identified the cause. It seemed to be more prevalent on Nickelodeon cartoons but was still everywhere. Now, it is not only disrespectful and smart-mouthed, it is also raunchy and disgusting.

Hubby was trying to describe some of the things the boys had said and done that showed what kind of behavior they had been dealing with. He ended up having to explain a couple of the things to me because I had never heard of some of it. I recognize that I'm naive but should 11-year-olds know that kind of stuff either? Or even 13-year-olds? (That was the age group causing the problems -- not the older boys who had been taught better).

It's very frustrating to me. And as parents become a dying breed, replaced by adults who only want to be their child's friend, I am not sure that it is going to get any better. I fear for a world run by such adults as these children will become if left unchecked.