The therapy industry’s 2013 revision of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, in this its most pharmaceutically influenced reincarnation, gives credence to the motion that humans in their uncontrollable diversity are considered to be nothing more than wild wheat germs in need of a genetic modification “fix”. . .

At what point does teaching become intimidation and brain washing? At what point does passion become obsession?

6 Year Old Blackballed Over Baggie - Tamsin McMahon - National POst - Feb 01, 2011
When a 6 year old cringes and weeps when his mother uses a "ziplock" bag "educational authorities" have gone too far. When a child looks upon their parent as  a subversive out to destroy the planet, the righteousness of the powers that be becomes self-righteous. How dare people use children to attack their parents! How dare educators frighten children into believing in a certain way and causing upset in family structures. Self-righteous obsessives are more of a danger to the human environment than are "sinful parents".

Grief is an Illness. . .

This morning my wife strongly suggested I read an article in the National Post by Barbara Kay.

Sometimes Life Is Just Really Sad - (Barbara Kay) National Post - 27-04-11

The article refers to the excessive use of pharmaceuticals and the upcoming DSM-5 - the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (the bible of psychiatrists) which in 2013 will be determining "grief" as a certifiable MENTAL DISORDER. . . i.e.: it will be a treatable (read: medicatable) illness in the future. (I guess we're all safe until it is published. . . . . .)

So, as Barbara Kay states: If after 2 weeks you are still grieving. . .  the DSM-5 will consider you to be suffering from a mental disorder. Kay's article highlights the pharmaceutical and treatment professions' dehumanization and infantilization and victimization of humanity. Reading it is a MUST.

(Vindicated again!!!!!)  Beyond Discouragement - Creativity brought all of this up when it was published.

Television violence and kids

Television is no more dangerous than the internet which is more dangerous than television. Content and submission to it are key. And neither of these have power without children getting the nod from on high. Violence on television and in video games is used to entice a buying audience. No audience, no violence. Private enterprise reacts to acceptance and rejection. That’s how they make money. If our children are not tuned in, the corporate game will change.

If our children are outside playing, running and cycling, private enterprise will get into that until they ruin that too. That’s the name of the corporate game. Even "nothing" is awesome to kids if nothing is titillating.

The day parents and so-called specialists “get” that, they will recognize that the responsibility is theirs. The day parents take back their parenting role and stop seeing themselves as simply “providers” kids will be given a new lease on living rather than vegetating. Once parents take back that sense of equilibrium in the family, kids will get tuned out of violence and the concomitant gradual dumbing and numbing down of their brains and consciences.

This whole television and video game violence "thing" is a no-brainer. . .  We only have ourselves to blame when it comes to children being groomed for lethargy, passive aggressiveness, violence and depression.

Normal Childhood

Oddly, we adults often make reference to how awful it is when a child does not have a “normal” childhood. . .  And, what is a normal childhood today? Being generic, ordinary - even lowest common denominator? Receiving awards for participation because trying too hard means you might hurt someone else's feelings when you do achieve better grades?

According to UNICEF and other world body reports, today’s children, despite the wealth and ease of western life, are the unhappiest of any past generations. Despite being coddled and even assailed by obsessive over-protection, children feel uncared  for. Increasingly, they show signs of bottled-up anger and depression. Taught to feel entitled, they are more demanding; angrier than children from previous eras. Unlike children of the past, they have no idea how to deal with the unexpected or how to fend for themselves. Unable to formulate solutions to problems they are becoming increasingly dependent and submissive.  Often lethargic, they prefer being tethered to their digital accessories than being active, involved or “connected” to others? And due to an inability or even an urge to be physically and emotionally active, obesity and its concomitant consequences continue to be an urgent problem along with a distorted body-awareness leading to self-hatred.

If anything, we should be wishing that our children not be like everybody else. We should be offering them the opportunity to be active, curious, daring, free and to eagerly embrace  discovery and the mysteries of the unknown. We should be wishing that our children be awed by the marvels the world has to offer - i.e.: to be awed by more than the word “awesome”.

We should be wishing that our children not be clones as dictated by marketing and to not be fearful as dictated by adult feelings of overwhelming impotence. We should be wishing that our children and grand-children be incredibly and wondrously themselves - to be strong and resilient and even belligerently rebellious. If not. . . Their children will be even more despondent than they are becoming.