I don't like to watch the news... I never have liked the news. And I've never been one to really read the paper either. I know that my generation is known for being self-centered and I guess older generations think that we just don't care about what's going on. That is far from the truth. I do care about what is going on. Maybe I care too much and that is why I can't read, watch, or listen to it. I get emotional about the stuff that goes on and I carry it with me and can't get it out of my mind for days.
Does anyone remember this song by Anne Murray?
I rolled out this morning
Kids had the mornin' news show on
Bryant Gumbel was talkin' 'bout the fighting in Lebanon
Some senator was squawkin' 'bout the bad economy
It's gonna get worse you see, we need a change in policy
There's a local paper rolled up in a rubber band
One more sad story's one more than I can stand
Just once how I'd like to see the headline say
"Not much to print today, can't find nothin' bad to say", because
(Chous)
Nobody robbed a liquor store on the lower part of town
Nobody OD'ed, nobody burned a single buildin' down
Nobody fired a shot in anger, nobody had to die in vain
We sure could use a little good news today
I'll come home this evenin'
I'll bet that the news will be the same
Somebody takes a hostage, somebody steals a plane
How I wanna hear the anchor man talk about a county fair
And how we cleaned up the air, how everybody learned to care
Whoa, tell me
Nobody was assassinated in the whole Third World today
And in the streets of Ireland, all the children had to do was play
And everybody loves everybody in the good old USA
We sure could use a little good news today
The news makes me worry too much. What I worry about most are my children and their safety. And it's a broad range of "safety" that I worry about and think about every time we are out and about... Maybe I am crazy. Maybe I have heard too many stories. Maybe I have issues. I don't know.
- I know there comes a time when every parent has to loosen the apron strings, but when is that? Those 3 girls in Ohio were abducted as teenagers.
- School shooting, theatre shootings, mall shootings... it goes on and on.
- Bombings, bomb threats, etc.
- Teenagers and young adults are doing drugs, texting and driving, running their cars off the road, victims of date rape, drinking and smoking at a young age.
- An 8 year old was kidnapped, raped, and murdered in Florida recently.
- A four month old was raped and strangled to death by a child molester in Missouri. (Yes, you read this correctly)
- Children are stalked online - who knows, someone might be stalking this blog. (Good thing we have GUNS!!! And lots of them! And we know how to use them!)
- Teachers are having inappropriate relationships with their students. Even pastors and church leaders... where does it stop?
Years ago, I heard of a mother who let her son go to the restroom alone while she waited outside of the restroom and he was raped by a man in the bathroom. I don't know if this was a true story, but does it matter at this point??? Now the thought is in my mind and I can't stand the idea of sending my kids into a public restroom without me. No matter how old they are, they can probably always be overpowered by an adult, right?
Every time we go to a store or anywhere there is a crowd, all I can think about is who is watching my children... I have to be able to see them at all times. Most abduction stories are told like this. "He was standing right there and I turned around and he was gone..." Can you imagine? Jayna likes to get right behind me when we're at the store, so that I look around like a crazy person when I think she is out of my sight. It makes my heart race. She thinks it's funny, but she just doesn't understand what it does to me.
We talked about the basic "stranger-danger" with our kids, but nothing in great detail. I don't want to scare them, but I also don't know what to tell them to do to survive a situation. Of course, I hope that they never have to experience it.
This post doesn't really have a point, expect for the fact that we, as a society need to watch over and protect any and all children. It doesn't matter what relation they are to you. We need to pray for these children and their families. And as hard as it may seem, we need to pray for the offenders. Yes. I struggle with this one the most. The sad part is that most of them seriously have something wrong with them or they were abused as a child and it's all they know.
I normally don't have dark or sad posts, but I felt like I needed to get this off my mind.
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