05-27-2022, 11:38 PM
For whatever my opinion is worth, I believe it was another critical element of structure in a young person's life. Church, more engaged schools, playing with other kids instead of sitting in front of a screen, family get-togethers, neighborhood get-togethers, etc.
There have always been troubled kids but years ago, for better or worse, people were more connected. That kid felt he/she was a part of something whether they wanted to be there or not. The opportunity for someone to intervene was much higher as the kid was always bumping into adults.
Growing up, everybody knew everybody on my street. All the adults knew whose kid was whose. Any problems and intervention was quick. Shoot, even all my teachers in elementary school knew my Mom and Dad on a first name basis. The news made it home before I did.
Also, there seemed to be (at least in my experience) a healthy dose of multigenerational mixing socially. Kids were around hearing old folks talk. They learned their position in that constellation. They were not secluded to nothing more than inexperienced kids telling each other dumb s*** on the internet.
Last thought on Church. I went to church...religiously (ahem). The school and church were part of the same building. We always had Bible classes and whatnot. Fast forward to my adult life. I witnessed many adults (nonreligious people) struggle with life lessons I learned how to keep in context as a child. Many of these adults poo-poo anything to do with faith. That's their prerogative. However, they neglect to realize a large part of many religions is teaching real life tools to deal with hard situations. Get them inculcated as a youngster and you have a leg up. No guarantees but it helps. That small margin might make the difference some day.
As children grow up without those tools, they first get blindsided by the many events (to which they were never made aware as a possibility) and then struggle to cope with no guidance. I am torn between feeling the shooter in Texas was a monster (he was) and knowing he was at one point a child (non-monster) who was left by the wayside. His mind and soul was left to rot. We can blame poor mental health access but where was the community around that kid to begin with?
There have always been troubled kids but years ago, for better or worse, people were more connected. That kid felt he/she was a part of something whether they wanted to be there or not. The opportunity for someone to intervene was much higher as the kid was always bumping into adults.
Growing up, everybody knew everybody on my street. All the adults knew whose kid was whose. Any problems and intervention was quick. Shoot, even all my teachers in elementary school knew my Mom and Dad on a first name basis. The news made it home before I did.
Also, there seemed to be (at least in my experience) a healthy dose of multigenerational mixing socially. Kids were around hearing old folks talk. They learned their position in that constellation. They were not secluded to nothing more than inexperienced kids telling each other dumb s*** on the internet.
Last thought on Church. I went to church...religiously (ahem). The school and church were part of the same building. We always had Bible classes and whatnot. Fast forward to my adult life. I witnessed many adults (nonreligious people) struggle with life lessons I learned how to keep in context as a child. Many of these adults poo-poo anything to do with faith. That's their prerogative. However, they neglect to realize a large part of many religions is teaching real life tools to deal with hard situations. Get them inculcated as a youngster and you have a leg up. No guarantees but it helps. That small margin might make the difference some day.
As children grow up without those tools, they first get blindsided by the many events (to which they were never made aware as a possibility) and then struggle to cope with no guidance. I am torn between feeling the shooter in Texas was a monster (he was) and knowing he was at one point a child (non-monster) who was left by the wayside. His mind and soul was left to rot. We can blame poor mental health access but where was the community around that kid to begin with?