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Helping Children Live in God's Neighborhood
You can hear it in the restless voices of our children, the clear and intentional warnings from God to stop disrespecting the perfection that he created or bare the consequences of that disrespect in like form. And it seems we are baring those consequences as we struggle as a nation to gain control over our children who seem fraught with troubles.
As mounting evidence suggests, children are showing more signs of strain, aggression, irreverence, and violence than ever before, the results of which negatively impact our daily lives and global future in tragic ways. It seems that human beings are determined to change the recipe with which God created children and our obsession with doing so can only lead to our own demise as stronger warnings finally give way to irrational and destructive human will.
I've never known a good situation to arise from forcing the hand of God, and yet as individuals and a community, we take that risk daily, spending countless hours trying to convince everyone that children have evolved beyond what God intended them to be -- children! And we use every means (as unjustified and unwarranted as they may be) to build our case for selfish reasons, greed and ease predominantly, as oppose to supporting God's for selfless ones. Then we wonder why children disrespect themselves, us, and the world around them.
Here's a clue. Children learn through example. They mimic what they see. So in our complete disrespect of them, our careless listening to their needs, and the forcefulness in which we impose our own desires and beliefs, they, in turn, are doing exactly what they are suppose to be doing - learning and mimicking through example, which poses horrific consequences for our overall society. And that cycle is sure to continue unless people of strong leadership, faith, and understanding stand up and break it.
This is the main reason I launched The Wumblers preschool television series today. It's the same reason Fred Rogers (an ordained minister) launched Mr. Roger's Neighborhood exactly forty years ago. Mr. Rogers understood the power of the tube, and like me, he broke ranks with the television industry majority and used his presence and influence to support parents and families in the raising of respectful children during another very challenging time in our nation's history. Fred's imaginary neighborhood offered positive individual and community values through clear consistency, unquestionable caring, unwavering steadfastness, definitive respect, and fun - everything a child needs to feel safe and secure and nurture a desire to learn. It's no different today.
Understanding this, along with the additional knowledge that children at the preschool level cannot developmentally differentiate between real and the imaginary, The Wumblers community becomes the audience's community and the characters their friends, mentors, and role models. They stand in for these children's parents in a very positive way even when there may be some concern as to the optimum use of television in the home.
Certainly, before any other lesson can be taught to a child, the teaching of respect remains paramount. Chilrden must learn to respect themselves before they can master the concept of respecting others. The Wumblers series builds upon that premise with each new episode and character-building lesson. And it does so in an age-appropriate manner that respects the developmental parameters of children between the ages of two and six.
Laura J. Wellington is the founder of The Giddy Gander Company and the creator of The Wumblers preschool television series currently broadcasting in the US and internationally on Trinity Broadcasting and Smile of A Child Networks and soon to be broadcasting in the US on Sorpresa beginning this October. Laura is also a mother, former preschool teacher, and award winning entrepreneur. See www.wumblers.com for further contact information and details.
By Laura J. Wellington |
October 3, 2008; 9:42 AM ET
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Posted by: Paganplace | October 7, 2008 1:21 PM
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Praise to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Jesus said: "I am the way, I am the truth, I am the Life."
When you have one standard, there is a way to find the truth.
There is only one way for true discernment of each situation of one's life. Through Jesus Christ we are individuals and not part of some ethic or cultural group. We the believer's of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and has a Savior who died for us. He was born, He lived, He died, and He rose from the dead. He is waiting for us in heaven. Through the Prophets we have a proven living document called The Bible. God loves you. You don't have to die for God, God died for you. Though him you have a purpose, though the free-will God created us with
The apostle John tells us: "Perfect Love casts out fear". St. Paul tells us: We are all over comers through Jesus Christ, in whatever life we are in. The Bible is the one truth. The modern day scholar Simon Greenleaf from Harvard University took this to task and proved this truth. Come to Jesus though your free will while you can.
Posted by: rhfrost | October 7, 2008 10:13 AM
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I think part of the problem *is* how our society tries to control and protect children against "irreverence," as if that were part of the problem, rather than a natural result of telling kids one thing and then doing another.
There's a stress there, certainly, which kids will pick up on, whetever authority one tries to comfort and restrict with.
I think the nub of the problem is, in a way, that there's *too much restraint and not enough real safety* for too many kids out there. No wonder they're glued to the Xbox or whatever: no one lets them *run free* (I'm not suggesting anything too radical, here, but, darn, these days their lives are structured before they even learn to balance bravery and exploration with care) ... cause parents and aauthorities are too scared of them being 'corrupted' by the outside world.
Hel, these types don't even want to trust other *adults* with moral decisions, and instead propose an eternal war between 'temptation' they're pretty helpless against, vs a rather bleak obedience.
"Irreverence?"
I think "Irrelevance" is the real concern. Kids are growing up these days and knowing the billing doesn't match the reality.
When religious authority becomes a surrogate parent, among increasingly-isolated people who beat Bibles and make the future worse, kids are *right* to be irreverent.
As those responsible for nurturing the next generations, we should not be trying to *program* them, ...we should be being parents. And I do believe it takes a village.
Not a cuddly face on authorities that don't keep us in the creche they promise after all.
People still try to blame human freedom and capacity to learn and explore for the very maladies that 'more of the same' just keeps making worse.
We're missing out on something simpler. And it's not ideology or religious authority.
It's what's really important.