Tough Questions

My son asked me the other day why people do and say mean things. As I have posted before, I have been deeply impacted by the loss of the children and teachers at Sandy Hook. That horrible event has prompted me to reexamine a lot of things especially how I talk to my children. My son had some trouble on the bus with two older students giving him a hard time. Luckily, his school has done an excellent job of dealing with this quickly and he is once again, comfortable on the bus. This brings me to my point. We as parents have to start looking at our children and realizing that they are not perfect, and that they may be bullies. I have heard parents say "well I was bullied in school and I turned out OK" this is not an acceptable reason to allow our children to hurt and be hurt by other kids.  We as parents need to address this with our children and teach them that hurting others and bullying is unacceptable. The tragedy at Sandy Hook was something beyond most people's comprehension, but we can do little things to make our schools better and safer. let's start by being engaged with our kids and talking to them so that they understand what is acceptable and unacceptable behavior.

In the wake of Sandy Hook everyone is talking about what they can do, gun control, tackling mental health issues and the like. I am included in this. I have been trying to sort out what I can do to make our nation safer for our kids, but what we really need to do is start with out own families. These are things that we can do, and should be doing as parents. There seems to be an awful lot of parents out there who don't put the time in with their kids. My husband and I work full time because we have to, but that does not mean I get a free pass on my parenting responsibilities. Just because I am at work for 40 hours a week does not excuse my children from being respectful, kind and decent human beings. It also does not excuse me for being aware of what shows my children watch and what video games they play. We need to know what our kids are up to and parent them. So, to all the parents out there who are too tired to put the time in with their kids I ask you, please make the time, and teach them to be respectful of others and kind. This is one small way we can make our schools, towns and country a better place.