Who's Protecting the Children?

I caught a glimpse of a local Los Angelas morning news show yesterday morning and the topic was about "tweens" caught up in relationships of domestic violence, some resulting in murder. They were talking about TWEENS. aka: CHILDREN. Kids that would be classified as middle school age, 10, 11, 12, 13 years old. Such a sad statement on today's society, that children find themselves caught up in these terribly intense relationships with the opposite sex. Relationships that involve mental and physical abuse, that sometimes leads to murder. And so many parents don't even bat an eye at the idea of their young son or daughter having a boyfriend/girlfriend at this age, and is considered as being "normal". The "everybody's doing it" mentality, I guess... It seems that common sense left this world and no one has noticed! These are children!

But the really sad part is, this isn't just a problem with young kids run amok, but we have adults, people who are supposed to KNOW BETTER, that are encouraging this behavior. Any parent that knows about, yet allows these kinds of relationships to take place and turns a blind eye, is encouraging. Now, on top of that we have public schools that are doing everything from passing out birth control pills and condoms to taking kids to the abortions clinic to obtain an abortion without a parent's knowledge. The mantra is "they are going to do it anyway. We need to teach them how to "protect" themselves". WHO are they protecting??!! These are CHILDREN.... They are NOT animals! With garbage like this being shoved in their faces on a daily basis, in a place where we are supposed to feel they are "safe", we as parents can't afford to "turn a blind eye". We need to be vigilant! Kids need to learn self respect, pride and esteem. They need to learn that they have VALUE, starting in their homes. They need to learn that they ARE stronger and worth more than society tells them they are and that they CAN have SELF CONTROL. Parents need to take back their rights and responsibilities as the primary teachers of their children. Stop pushing it off, or allowing the public education system to take over. These are OUR children. These are OUR FUTURE.

Now, just have a look at what this public school in Los Angelas is offering now! What ever happend to kids learning Reading, Writing and Arithmetic in school?? What does pornography have to do with developing my 11 year old's mind and helping him become a functioning, contributing member of society?! Thankfully, I am able to stay home and homeschool my children. My 11 year old knows the VERY basics. The 'how' and 'why'. But not all parent's are fortunate enough to have this as an option. Some, for reasons beyond their control are single parent's, doing their best to do the right thing. They have to work in order to support their family, and have no choice but to send their kids to public school. So does that make them automatically subjected to this garbage? Who is going to protect THESE children? When is someone going to say "enough!" and allow these kids to BE kids?

And I can't even limit this infiltration to the public school system, because our own parishes have been lax in programs that they were pressured in to adopting, due to the past sexual abuse conflicts. In the past, I have politely 'declined' my childrens participation. I understand that there are some better programs being offered, that are in line with Church teaching, but I have yet to see them in my diocese. I just feel it's my job to inform them, however much I think they need to know, and when. It is my job to protect them. And that includes protecting their innocence, both mind and body.