To all of the above. No matter what your kids soak up from the crazy world, keeping an open conversation going is key. When they can talk to you about anything …. everything is on the table. Now that makes parenting a whole lot easier!

Many blessings,
Carrie
Carrie Tucker´s last blog ..Before You Drug Yourself, Do You Research Prescription Drug Information?

@Sharon – Thanks so much for reading and for sharing your story Sharon and congratulations on your degree!

I think a lot of parents share your struggle. I’ve heard other parents say the same about Hannah Montana! I’ve never seen the show but personally speaking, I am not overly enamoured with what they show on telly either.

Like the other ladies who’ve commented have said, getting to know the parents of your children’s friends and also creating an environment where you can have open discussions with your child (in their language, at their level) goes a long way towards creating basic values. And should they subsequently stray to explore what friends are doing, it leaves the door open for them to come back.

I was a wild child; my parents were divorced, had the guilts and it was easy to play them off against each other. I did a lot of stupid things that I won’t go into here and my parents did nothing except blame each other. When they finally decided I needed disipline it was too late as I was well into boys, cigs, pot, booze and even at 12 I was out all night skipping school, the works. Things happened and I came to my senses turned my life around and my proudest day was when I graduated with a 2.1 in Physics.

I watch my daughters like a hawk and I explain the things they see on tv as best I can. They’re into Hannah Montana but even that is too old for them. Television is ruining children, they’re exposed to too much that doesn’t gel with what I want to teach them. I don’t want to ban tv but I struggle hard with how to introduce them to concepts that television producers seem intent on ramming down their throats from an early age. Is this common??

Thanks you, I enjoy reading this blog very much.

She manages to sell eggs to buy a notebook and not having enough money for a pencil, she takes her Mum’s lipstick and makes her way to school. On her way she encounters young boys who play “wargames” on her based on what they have seen going on around them (Taliban/Americans).

They dig a hole and tell her it’s her grave, kidnap her and hold her in a cave with other girls they’ve already captured, gather rocks and prepare her for being stoned… In the end, she has to pretend to die in order to be left alone.

I know kids act out war and fighting – because they have such rich imaginations, I think if they are left to their devices without guidance into what is right/wrong, reality & fiction become blurred and they don’t realise the consequences of what they are doing.

I want to know what the parents of the 23 boys who abused this girl were thinking http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/8598136.stm – they were all 6 years old.

The forbidden tends to be attractive to children – and adults too! – so you’re right, it’s important to not shelter them completely.

Apparently Mashable “outed” this as a fake video. It was produced by a company who wanted to demonstrate the viral power of videos. The children are apparently professional actors.

It’s disturbing that the producers – grown adults – haven’t given a thought to the wider meanings inherent in this, the trivialising of gun crime and the creep into young minds of the acceptance of violence.

Fine, there’s marketing, there’s money, there’s success – but surely not at the expense of getting children to act out stuff that’s beyond their understanding.

Should be thankful there was no sexual violence in Scarface or who knows what else the “producers” would have put in.

Having said that …. this really disturbs me. Plays are such a powerful learning platform. Why would you want to teach kids this? It makes my skin crawl! My kids plays through out school, have been humorous or historical with a positive message. In my community we want to offer kids the chance to step into a character and feel empowered by it. I think this community has given up.

Support childish behavior. Happy kids make a brighter future.

Many blessings,
Carrie
Carrie Tucker´s last blog ..Concerned About Paxil Side Effects?

I don’t believe in sheltering children from everything bad in the world because in the end, that may lead to rebellion. On the other hand, when there is a wealth of good choices out there, I think the school can choose to use materials that don’t make light of serious problems.

In the US, the popular DARE program (Drug Awareness and Resistance Education) has been cited by both experts and young adults as one of the reasons they tried drugs. The risk taking factor that so many young people don’t develop until much later leads them to want to try the forbidden substances or acts.
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