I have grown to hate my past when it comes to spending money that I don't have. From Nicole using it as a weapon in arguments, to being in debt to the point where my credit score is suffering, there seems to be no mercy... If I could give advice to anyone who would hear it, I would suggest setting some long-term goals in life, figuring a budget for those goals, and SAVING until you can afford it! I hate the fact that I was sucked in to the common fate of today's youth, which is that of gluttonous "living as comfortable as my parents" belief. I think a great percentage of youth today have mistakenly assumed that if their parents can have all of these nice things, it wouldn't be hard for me to do the same with little to no effort at all! I think a lot of youth simply don't understand that their parents can afford this stuff because one or both of them have jobs and salaries that they worked their way up to! There is too much SPOILING OF CHILDREN going on. Parents don't seem to realize that in doing this they are setting up their children for failure. Mommy & Daddy won't be around forever to dote upon their precious little ones... or shall I say, the benjamins that come from that source won't be around forever...
Shifting gears... I am afraid that the world is moving toward utter corruption faster than people may realize. I think of Kantian Deontology, or more specifically, the Categorical Imperitive, when analyzing the activity of youth in this era. Let's take a look at the "popular" trends among youth. What makes a kid "cool" nowadays? Well, it obviously depends on the culture and social status of the child... but, for all intensive purposes, we'll stick with the majority of American youth. In order to accurately pinpoint what determines what's "cool" and what's not, a lot of youth (I fear) turn to popular movie stars and/or TV show actors/actresses, and/or professional athletes, etc. These figures seem to serve as role models for young kids, and thus have a lot of sway when it comes to decisions of the child on what clothes to wear, how should I be spending my time, what is the coolest new electronic device that Tommy has (the rich kid in class... or should I say rich KIDS) "mommy, why can't I have an iPhone like my friend Brandon?"
I won't lie, I really want an iPhone too... in fact, I have one of the latest iPods instead. 8GB of memory for all sorts of applications, email (when WiFi is available), games, etc. It really appeals to the human most interested in being popular... Just take a walk around a public school nowadays at lunch. It would be next to impossible to walk from one end of the school to the other without seeing at least 10 kids playing with either an iPod or an iPhone.... with earplugs in their ears, wearing trendy clothes, etc. And you think to yourself... wow, that kid has some rich parents if they can afford that stuff! Or maybe they don't. I think the demands of children nowadays may drive their weak parents into debt up to their eyeballs.. sad day.So, what is the future of our country if our children aren't learning how to successfully make it in this world? I think parents have a real challenge on their hands in deciphering what's good for their child to be interested in, and what will lead that child to a miserable life 20 years down the road... It's a cruel world we live in, and unless a child is armed with righteous or moral ethics, one can be certain that that child will struggle, if not fail completely! It's my fear that children nowadays are being raised by the media... movies, tv shows, music and artists, the INTERNET. The importance of a strong family life for a child is becoming more & more needed. If a child is left to be raised by these other un-stable sources, they are likely to lead a miserable life... a life where nothing is ever enough--always wanting what the Jones's have, but not being able to afford it... We as parents and future parents must realize this dilemma and act early in our children's lives.
Strict sheltering is not the answer either! Failure to allow the child to be "in the world" is also a path to possible failure. This doesn't mean allowing them to be necessarily "of the world." Teaching a child correct principles, but also allowing them to experience things like failure, or heartbreak, or injury early in life and guiding them (not forcing them) through it--letting them make decisions on their own--allowing them to see the reasoning behind the right decisions to be made is a sound solution. I realize there is a lot of danger in this approach as well...
To be continued...
