Hello everyone, I hope all is well with you. I’m back after a busy week of revisions and editing. My revisions for my first MS have been sent off to my beta readers, and I’ve started editing my rough draft of my second one. I’m crossing my fingers. The characters in these books have made me work hard and I’m proud of the results. Let’s hope the Beta readers like them.
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But enough about that. Last week I wrote a post about finding your passion because I’d done an author visit at one of the schools in the area. I received some emails from some of the students who enjoyed my presentation and I thought I’d share one of them with you.
Hi Lisa,
Thank you for coming to our school and talking to us 6th graders about your awesome books! I got the second book from the Super Spies series, and I am so excited to read it! Thank you for answering all of our questions. We learned a lot about being an author and how to write good stories!
Thanks Again!
When I get feedback like this, it makes all the hard work and sacrifices worth it. I love inspiring kids to step out of their comfort zones and pursue their dreams. After my presentation last week, some of the kids gathered around me and told me about the stories they were writing. Their enthusiasm was overwhelming and sparked my resolve to keep going with my writing. It’s funny all it takes is spending some time with kids, and it urges me to keep pushing forward.
Photo credit: Jiuck on Visual Hunt /CC BY-NC-SA
Our kids are our most valuable resource. We need to protect them. It seems like our world is getting more and more dangerous and our kids are the ones suffering because of it. We have human traffickers, mass shootings, and child abuse.
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How do we protect our kids?
To protect our kids from human traffickers and child abuse we parents must be involved in our children’s lives. Most predators target kids who come from low income homes, whose parents are busy trying to make ends meet. They also target kids with low self-esteem. Kids who don’t have a role model to look up to. So in a nutshell, we have to do a better job at parenting.
Photo credit: akahawkeyefan on Visual Hunt / CC BY-NC-SA
As for Mass shootings, better parenting is only half of the answer. We also need to have stronger communities. For those families whose circumstances aren’t ideal, the community should pull together and support them. Make sure the children don’t fall through the cracks and become victims of bullying and other stressors that affect teens. Once we’ve got those support systems in place, then we can move forward from there.
My next question for everyone is this. How do we go from an idealistic kid like the one above to a kid who’ll take a gun into a school and shoot up his classmates? If we can answer that question, we’ll be moving in the right direction.
Let me know your thoughts. Leave a comment, I’d love to hear from you!
Thought provoking… definitely as parents we need to be more aware of what is happening in our kids worlds… in reality and on social media. X
You are so right, Ritu! Social media is a place where predators lurk. Making sure our kids are aware of this and to be careful is half the battle. The other half is making sure we don’t post too many pictures of our kids outside their schools and other identifying landmarks.
I don’t at all on my blog or Instagram.. . My personal fb sometimes but not often and my location is turned off too. I’m very aware of that. Hubby hates SM so I’m on it so I know how things work them I can advise and supervise my own kids x
You are such a good parent. Kudos to you and your hubby! 🙂
We try. We make mistakes as everyone does but try to rectify too!!!
That is true, but I find children are very forgiving especially when you apologize. 🙂
True Lusa5😚
🙂
*Lisa!
🙂
I wish I had an answer and a quick fix but I think the problems are too ingrained for that now…I do think bullying needs to be seriously addressed and not only in schools but in workplaces and I also think all this fascination with celebrities has gone too far. Everything just seems out of sync 🙂 x
You’re right about that, Carol. Work place bullying is the worst. I hate it, especially when it’s a boss or a superior. It’s a very powerless feeling. I also think you’re right about this fascination with celebrities. They really are just regular people like you and me. 🙂
While agreeing with you completely Lisa, I will just make a comment that sometimes kids, particularly teens, do not want to be protected. So no matter how strong the family, how high their moral values, how protective the community … some kids will always rebel. I’m not justifying their behavior, but merely point out that the responsibility doesn’t lie entirely with the parents. Sometimes we do all we can, and can do no more, yet still the child rebels.
That’s true, Denzil. Sometimes, I forget that kids do have free will and they have to live with their choices just like the rest of us.
Great post! My parents were always very open with me and encouraged me to talk about my feelings thoughts and worries. It helped we used to eat tea together at the dining table which encouraged open lines of communication. I felt I could talk to my parents. I will try to do the same if I am blessed with a family.
I’m so glad to hear that. I can tell you’re going to be a great mom when you have a family! 🙂
I hope so thank you x
You’re welcome!
This is such a tough topic, and I wish there was one simple answer. I think the best we can do as parents is to provide a supportive and loving home environment, talk to our kids about “life”, and always keep an eye out for changes. We homeschool our young kids as of now, and I’m happy I can protect them for the time being, but we do watch the nightly news so our kids are aware of what has been happening in schools. We have had many discussions. Unfortunately my 7-yr. old started having trouble going to sleep in the past few weeks after watching the news. She was afraid that a “shooter” was going to sneak in our home at night. We’ve had to shut of the news for the time being. I feel so bad that kids – and parents – have to worry about things such as school shootings. When I was young, there was no such thing. What changed?
That’s a good question, Erin, and in my humble opinion, I feel that so many families focus on material things instead of helping kids grow emotionally. But I feel it goes deeper than that and I can’t quite put my finger on it. 😦 Sorry. I wish I had a better answer for you.
Once Again, wise words. I have no idea. All kids start out as a blank canvas, right?
Yes. Each child starts out with a clean slate. It makes me sad when I hear about all the abused kids and how this leads to addiction and more abuse. No wonder some of them are picking up guns. 😦
Outstanding post! I really think it takes all of us, the village, to effect change. We can’t just lay the responsibility on parents, or teachers, or the kids themselves. But, we really do need to get back to basics and start thinking outside of the box for solutions!
You are so right, Allison! Thanks for stopping by!
These are important issues and questions! I think an important first step is limiting or even eliminating social media and cellphone use for young kids. The stuff they are exposed to is truly frightening!
You’re right, it is. I’m glad my kids aren’t on social media right now.
I don’t know how to stop the madness of mass shootings. I hope we figure it out soon.
I hope so, too, Cynthia! Thanks for stopping by!
I agree with the many comments here. It truly isn’t a single solution. I wish there was. Children are such a fountain of joy. Your experience in sharing your stories and how the children responded is a perfect example. We can’t hide the truth from kids, but we have to help them keep dreaming and building creative problem solving skills. We may not be able to make the world any safer (its been unsafe for forever though the dangers change and migrate) but we can raise each generation to be engaged, caring, thinkings who want to make the world a better place and know how to collaborate together intelligently to get the right things done. I believe that.
That’s a very positive outlook, Angela and I bet you’re right if we focus on raising awareness with our kids and teaching them to care we’ll be doing the right thing. 🙂
When it comes right down to it, all our children want is our attention. When we’re present, listening to our children’s needs/fears we build a better relationship with them and hopefully find a solution to help them become better adults. Well said, Lisa!
Thanks for stopping by, Sharon and sharing your wisdom with all of us! 🙂
My wife and I have always been involved and over-protective of our daughter.
But who can blame us, right?
Absolutely. My boys tell me I’m overprotective and I tell them they just have to deal with it. It would break my heart if something bad happened to either one of them. they don’t tell me that anymore. 🙂