Did you know that our generation of children today - for the first time in the history of America - has a life expectancy that is shorter than their parents?
We hear about alarming reports, from "diabetes and asthma in children on the rise" and "why is there so many obese children today" to "children in preschool ages treated for stress related diseases" and "suicide rates on the rise for children in middle school age".
What is going on? I will tell you what's going on.

First, I want you to think about this;
We are all worried about what the future has in store for us and the next generation. While my grandmother gave birth to 7 children and was just like every other woman of her generation, there's friends of my children today, telling me that they do not want to have children ever, out of fear of what kind of future they will have, out of knowledge (or perception) that the world we live in is just too polluted in every meaning of that word.

So like I said, we are all worried about what the future has in store for us and the next generation. What are we going to do about it? Or should I say what ARE we doing about it? Who should we turn to, what CAN we do?
I know this is going to sound like a cliche but I believe that the future is in our children, and we need to focus on them. They are tomorrows leaders, they are going to make decisions, and they are going to take care of us when that day comes, or they might just NOT take care of us right?

We need to teach them differently. We need to show them a different outlook on things.

Today the reality is that we are feeding them with unhealthy foods filled with preservatives and additives that often leads to cancer and almost always leads to obesity. I am talking about the foods that are the staples of our society as well as the foods we present them in the school cafeterias. From the beginning, in preschool and kindergarten our children are rewarded with CANDY of all things. Who allowed THAT to go through, and why is that now a common reward in our public schools? Then, we rob then from getting the release and exercice they need by cutting classes like Art and P.E. To top it off, we make rules like "No Running"
(That alone is insane - how can you tell a growing child with an explosion of energy inside, and a body made to be used - not to RUN around outside???!!! It's just beyond me)
And if they get in trouble for some reason, while on recess, they are punished by having to sit on a bench until it's time to go back inside - it doesn't take a genious to figure out that these children are not going to sit still and perform in whatever's going on in class after that!

We all remember Columbine. There's an increase in children whom does not love themselves, therefore are not capable of loving others. Our children are being brainwashed by the media, by movies and music that are focusing on viloence and prejudice, judgment and hate. It seems to me that when I think back and look at the way my grandmother told me her childhood was like, that we are going in the wrong direction today. We were right when we started changing things and making things better, but we have gone too far towards the other side of the scale. The younger generation of today seems to be a majority of lazy, self centered, indulgent, unhealthy people that demands to be entertained at all times. I am not blaming the youth, they are just a product of what we created.

The schools alone are not to have all the blame for the mess we are in today, a lot of it starts at home with bad habits of an unhealthy diet and too much t.v. and computer games, etc.
There's been so much focus on "freedom" in this country that there's no control on what is going on behind closed doors where children are raised. We've all heard the horror stories of adopted children as well, where there was supposed to BE some kind of "control" of the situation.
And we all can agree on the fact that any "idiot" excuse my expression, can have children. Americans are able to bring their babies and toddlers to R-rated movies in the theaters if they so want to. It's part of our "freedom" in this country. I think it's wrong. If the parents are not intelligent enough to understand that this is damaging to their young brains, then we need some rules to regulate it so that at least it won't be allowed in public! I mean, what they choose to show them of video's at home is one thing, but we can have rules of what's appropriate ages of the different movies being showed at the movie theaters.

I'm slightly getting off my track here because I just wanted to make you think about these things.

Back to my dream. I dream of a New School System that teaches them the basic things needed to become a functioning, strong, self thinking individual. They shouldn't need to want to become a doctor in order to learn the basic physiology of the body, and first aid. They shouldn't have to want to become a mechanic in order to understand the basics of how a car runs and is maintained. They shouldn't have to want to become a priest just to get to know about the different belief systems in the world. They shouldn't have to want to become a psychologist or diplomat in order to learn the basics of the mind and how it works, and interrelations between humans. All schools would have a swimming pool and the students to use it regularly. And nobody would have to stand up and pledge any allegience either. THAT is brainwashing if I ever saw it.

The curriculum would consist of things like psychology, compassion, self value, healing, alternative medicine, meditation, information about the different religions in the world, they would also learn survival techniques, first aid and also boy scout stuff like how to start a fire and and of course art in all forms, all the things we've complained about as we started our adult lives that: "Nobody thought us that in school" Well, WHY NOT??!!! When it is valuable information and knowledge that can change our society in a broader picture?! A broader picture. "The big picture".
Let's look at that for a second.

What would our world be like if our children, from an early age would learn about these things? Don't you think it would be different? What if instead of trying to squeeze every individual into a square box, and make them feel stupid and inadecuate when they don't fit the box - what if instead, we let every individual reach the best of THEIR OWN potential? Can you imagine? Wow, we would raise a generation of happy, complete individuals that would be capable of reaching the top within the fields they perform best in. A generation of strong, healthy souls that care about others in the whole world. What do you think that would do to our society?
I know one thing, their bumper stickers would not say "God Bless America" they would say "God Bless Humanity" Other would instead of bragging about their student of the month, (or a student that can beat up YOUR best student of the month - what is THAT all about) instead would be informing about an organisation that people could join to improve something in the world.

We need to educate our youth about what's good and what solutions can be made, instead of bombarding them with bad news and reminding them of negative stuff that happened generations before them, just out of our own fear that "we don't want it to ever happen again". Well if that's our concern, let's stop focusing on it! We all know by now that what we focus on, we create more of - so let's focus on what's GOOD and see what results we get. I think we need to start showing nothing but good news on t.v. for a while. Imagine what THAT would do!

Again, I am sliding off the tracks a bit in my attempts to cast light on the big picture of our reality.