I've blogged before about how I usually avoid paying attention to much of the news because I find it depressing, but yesterday I read about a well publicized case about a girl that was kidnapped at the age of 11 and just recently found, now at the age of 28. You can find this story on your own if you care to, and I don't plan on discussing the details, but it's a heartbreaking and disturbing story. My little brother Ralphie is 11 and I just can't bear to think of him (or any one, of course) being abducted, and how horrible and terrifying that would be.
I usually try to keep the blog posts upbeat, but this story brought up anxieties that I've had many times before about raising children in this world where terrible things like this happen. It makes me want to live in a bunker/homeschool/make my kids wear leashes until they're 30/check my neighborhood for convicted sex offenders/and then NEVER LEAVE THE HOUSE.
So I ask you, my friends, how do you teach your kids to be wary and street smart but not fearful? How do you protect them but let them gain their independence gradually as well? Can I microchip my kid? My CAT has a microchip, for heaven's sakes! Most of all, how do you avoid parenting out of fear and anxiety, which I think kids can feed off of and rebel against more easily.
Looking forward to some good advice...
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4 comments:
I don't have advice yet, but maybe I will after I officially become a mom.
But, I did want to say that I read a couple articles on this same story and it was so disturbing to me as well. I worry about keeping our kids safe in a scary world and I worry a lot about keeping them safe from all the other crap out there like pornography, drugs and alcohol, etc. I feel like I was so sheltered as a child, which sometimes can be a bad thing but for the most part I am grateful for it.
David and I want to come out and see you and Tim someday. Our babies can bf and gf someday. :)
Wow... take a deep breath... Calm down... We all go through times like that... even now with Maddie I am going through it, she is going to go to a preschool done by myself and others but still. You will find that your kids more know then you think.. they will stay away from people who are "scary" unless you are around "scary" people. Just be the best example you can to your kids and they will be just fine.
Just move to Singapore where people get hanged if they hurt children so nobody even thinks about it! The U.S. needs to be more strict. They need to penalize people more than put them on the "sex offender" list!
The U.S. doesn't want to be inhumane to people, but seriously, why is hurting a child not inhumane in itself?!?! The story makes me sick and after being somewhere that's safe for my children, I have no desire to go back to the states...is that bad?
I haven't heard about this story, and I'm not going to read about it. There's a reason I don't watch the news! I'm perfectly happy getting my Yahoo News updates and catching a story or two on NPR. As for advice...I don't know. I totally freak out about that stuff too. I guess it's just super important to know who your kids hang out with (and who their parents are, are there guns at home?)...How do you teach "good touch/bad touch" and that "bad touch" could even come from someone you know and trust???? SCARY!!!!!!!!!
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