Where have all the kids gone?

[TW]

There has to be a reason. Why would the USA be haunted by millions of sex offenders and violent idiots when they are quite rare in the rest of the world. There has to be something in your community that triggers this behaviour.
I have a homemade theory on how those sex offenders and violent idiots develop. They were not allowed to go outside and play as kids so they went mad. It cannot be good for the mental health to grow up beeing dead scared of everything and forced to live a passive life. Their surplus energy gets channeled into sick fantasies and there it is. They become teenagers and gets the enormous teenager energy but instead of living actively they sit in front of the computer looking at weird internetsites and dreaming up even more sick fantasies. Then they become adults and are kicked out into the hard realities of life and the only firm thing they can stick to is their fantasies. That theory would also explain why the few we have of that kind almost always turn up in the big cities.

I am really happy we have an ocean between us and hopefully that madness will not come here. The children walk or bicycle anywhere during daylight and even before light and after dark in winter. The biggest concern is to keep them from drowning in some march or creek or getting lost in the forest or ending up under a lorry.
No children has been raped nor kidnapped in this village nor nearby in the latest century as far as I know.
Though they say that the remains of a murdered child was found hidden about 90 years ago, but it was so old then that they did not call the police. They figured that the murderer surely had died of high age before the body was found. This is just a rumour.

I am no psychologist but few things happens without a reason. The theory is just a young man's attempt to find the reason for why the world is like it is. Do not take it too seriously, but to me the theory makes sence as a possible explanation.

[low_48]

Some interesting thoughts TW. I've been reading alot by an author named Neal Donald Walsch. His theory makes sense to me. He attributes many of these types of crimes to the fact that "children" are raising children. We are tightening our family circles to the extreme of just the people in our house. Many have moved away from their families and don't even know who their neighbors are. This means that they don't have a "tribe" to help raise their children. Elders are the ones that should raise the children because the mother and father are just too immature to do that. The elders have the experiences, patience, maybe are financially sound, successful career, etc....., and can have the time to really teach that to the children. The elders life may be a little slower and affords real interaction with the children. If the child is raised by immature parents, they only learn the prejudice, fear, hatred, violence, that is passed on by the parent. The parents, or in many cases these days, parent, may be too busy to give the love, education, and time to the child. Add to that the fears and shame that many teach their children about their bodies,teach them nothing about sex, and you can see the result. It's a real human trajedy!

[Patty]

In my opinion our society has suffered since divorce and single parent families became "the norm" as opposed to the rare. One parent is not equipped to raise a child. Children also need stability. They need to know that their mom and dad will be there always, not just every other weekend, or whatever. They need to see that although mom & dad may argue, the argument can be resolved and mom & dad still love each other and love the child. A backup of aunts and uncles and grandparents are also vital in a child's upbringing. Even neighbors are or can be helpful. I know that if I see the neighbors kid out playing on the highway, it is my duty to stop and get him out of harm's way. We all need to show the child he is loved and that we care about his well being. Our small towns still have this for the most part, but I think it is sorely lacking in the big cities. This is so sad, and the child does not deserve to be brought up in that world, but so many of them are. Many folks don't take raising their child as an important task, whereas in reality it is the one most important thing we do in our lives.

[Bro. Noble]

Well, Patty,  my opinion of you just went from high to higher ;D  You are going to be a super Grandma 8) 8)   I couldn't agree with you more.

[Fla._Deadheader]

  Well said, Patty  8)

[Leatherneck]

If you have Grandkids go visit them or invite them to your house, and when they come have some fun with them not just treat them like somebody to help work on your projects. If your a parent get your kids out, kick them out of the house but give them something fun to do also, go for a bike ride with them, talk with them, don't be detoured but the " I donno" answers keep trying, heck you might learn something about your own children. If things are screwed up it is because we let them get that way. How often do you sit down at a meal with your family and thank the good Lord above for all the blessings he has given you? If it is wrong do something about it.

[Don P]

Bill Cosby said "Do something with them before "you can't do nothing with them".

Alot of it is also our preoccupation with getting them the "best" education. Some of our neices and nephews spend an awful lot of time in extracurricular school related activities and studying so that they will go to the "right" schools and keep up with their peers. Their playtime is filled with adult supervised activities that are supposed to help their self esteem. I dunno, I was at the river with a couple of them not long ago. They were bored and didn't know what to do with themselves. Kinda sad when you have to show a 12 year old how to skip a rock. Even harder to answer, why? We used to be able to entertain ourselves for hours, they cannot entertain themselves at all. Sure we could have gotten hurt when our tunnel collapsed or playing football without shouldermapads, but experience is a pretty good teacher. I can remember several times being told "well you learned not to do that again"  :D. We're bringing up some serious kids, hope it works out for them.

Average age of a plumber is now 56. We've given them some funny ideas about work too.

[Steve]

This may sound overly simplistic but I think the television lies at the foundation of a lot of our problems, not just of our kids but our society as a whole.

Steve

[mike_van]

Here's a funny one - Years ago, one hot summer day we were working in a big trailer park - We were about the only sign of life there - The ice cream truck pulled in, ringing his bell,  kids came pouring out of those trailers like someone kicked an ant farm - In a minute there were dozens lined up at the truck.

[Zundapp]

This may sound overly simplistic but I think the television lies at the foundation of a lot of our problems, not just of our kids but our society as a whole.

Steve

Very well said Steve, a big "Amen" to that.