108. Kids

Do we see problems with the younger generations? Do we blame the stressful times, video games, abuse & neglect, bullying in social media, pop music, illegal aliens, extraterrestrial aliens, Hollywood, water pollution, pharmaceuticals or not enough pharmaceuticals? I sure don’t know.

Or maybe you see our youths as precocious little free spirits, “Star Seeds” of the future whose behavior we just don't yet have the ability to appreciate. The bright ones do seem extraordinarily bright. There are amazingly compassionate and thoughtful children, more so than I knew about when I was a kid. It’s astonishing how much knowledge and wisdom can come out of tiny mouths in such cute, squeaky voices!

And yet sometimes, these same miniature wise old souls have enormous emotional issues, reacting to the whole wide world like I do to ill-fitting shoes. I, at least, have the option of not wearing the shoes. Anyone with years of life experience would have to agree that not only are today’s kids quite different from the way they were decades age, but there are simply so many more challenging ones. 

I am not an authority on anything regarding children. Except for having been one once, and arguably, still one in some ways, all I know about little kids comes from my stint as stepfather and grandpa, plus whatI hear from family members who are teachers or parents of little ones. Stories from the trenches. The how and why of the problems is beyond me. Something is different nowadays, and it is simply my job to notice what’s going on and find a way to smile about it.

I remember First Grade. There was a boy who got caught red-handed and lying that he hadn’t stolen a little something from another kid’s desk. He cried in his self-defense, and duly ashamed, stood face to the wall in the corner. That was the first and only crime I witnessed in most of elementary school. Boy, the world’s a different place now.

It’s worth repeating: “Things are more like they are now than they ever were before.”

Today, among the angelic little faces in primary grades, there are more than a few unrepentant repeat offenders. I'm not exaggerating! Angry, defiant, sassy and cruel. From the teachers I know, I hear about uncontrollable violent outbursts from misfit children. They are throwing chairs, screaming, and threatening others. For art projects, some even draw pictures of acts of sadistic violence.  Where does all that rage come from? They not only miss out on the good stuff of school, but they disrupt everyone else’s progress.  

When I’m told of kids who refuse to participate in classroom activities, fail to finish assignments, run screaming out of the building, disregard rules and show a lack of respect for others, I have to wonder if these are the frustrated low-achievers, or ones with processing disorders whose minds can’t organize information and follow instructions. Maybe. But some of these same darlings are also very intelligent and capable, like they ought to be the star pupils and popular class leaders. Maybe it’s the modeling they get from their older friends and family members, that it’s cool to be nasty, normal to lose self-control.

Whoops. I said this wouldn’t be an essay focusing on troubled kids, and that I’d find things to laugh about. OK, here’s one enjoyable example. One day last summer, a small group of neighbor children rang our doorbell, and with outstretched plastic jack-o-lantern pails, asked Linda if we had any treats. She didn’t have to make an excuse; we really don’t have treats around the house. Assuming this was some kind of funny stunt, she kindly suggested they come back in 6 months on Halloween. The apparent leader of the mob of little ones pressed his finger on the screen door, a little menacingly, and pursued the matter, “You don’t have any treats? I can’t believe you don’t have treats. I’ve never even heard of a house that doesn’t have treats.” After the kids stomped away, I thought we might want to barricade the doors in case they came back for revenge. But they never came back, and in fact, didn't even show up on Halloween!

As early TV's Art Linkletter proved in his cute interviews, kids say the darnedest things. My young-looking wife helps out in a 3^rd grade room. One little girl asked how old Linda is and was not suitably impressed when the answer was, “Would you believe it, I’m 78?”

The 8-year-old girl said plainly, “No, you look 80,” to which Linda managed a laugh and said something about that being kind of a weird compliment. “That wasn’t a compliment,” the girl replied coolly.

Ha-ha-ha… I think. I told you this story would get funny.