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| It should be no surprise why children are so crass to each other. Harry Reid demonstrates today's version of America civility and discourse. |
The article below is written by a guest editor:
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Elections have
consequences. Most people would agree
that those consequences can be negative or positive. Most people assume that the consequences involve
taxes, social issues, or national security.
Many people are not aware of the negative consequences affecting our
Nation’s youth. During the last two
election cycles, both parties have expressed the importance of “targeting” the
youth vote. I’ve recently learned firsthand that it comes with a cost.
The day
after the election was a rough one for me as I had to come to grips with the
fact that my Presidential choice didn’t win.
I had spent a long four years attempting to raise awareness of the future
consequences of electing a president who wanted to fundamentally transform
America into something that in my opinion, was far from the America I had grown
up in and loved. Like 49% of America, I woke
up on November 7, 2012 and contemplated where I would go from here.
My sixteen year old daughter came home from
school and was quite visibly upset. She
sat down at the kitchen table and proceeded to tell me what had happened at
school earlier in the day with regards to reactions to the outcome of the
election. During election night she was
on Twitter as was I watching for reaction and results. At one point, she tweeted “Go Romney!” Within minutes, she was bombarded with the
most vile and hate filled Tweets, most of which came from kids her own age in
different parts of the country. As a
mom, I tried to tell her to just let it go and unfollow those which are really
vulgar and offensive. At one point, her
own local friends started to tweet degrading and nasty tweets simply because
she didn’t have the same pick as theirs.
Having been on Twitter during election night myself, I also saw
firsthand how people were treating each other.
I was shocked at how nasty, degrading and abusive the “youth” had
become. She was attacked and told by one
of her friends that she was a “gay- hater!”
She was called a racist as well as other things that I cannot write in a
blog. During the day at school she said
kids were being so hateful and rude to each other and that the bus ride was
almost unbearable. They were pitted
against each other and at one point she thought the outburst might erupt into
violence.
Later that evening she was Skyping a friend of hers who
lives in Florida. They were talking about the election and soon
discovered that they had made different choices. Her friend is a fifteen year old girl who
comes from a pretty conservative family.
She stated that during the school day, someone had asked her if she was
happy with the outcome of the election.
When she told then that she was, the other kids really started giving
her a hard time. I found it interesting
that the hatred did not simply come from one side of the political spectrum,
but it was just as bad for both. She
told me that she became really upset with what she was hearing in the halls and
at her locker. Students were using
racial slurs when talking about and referring to President Obama. There were calling him a n****r who wanted to
take away guns. The worst part was the
fact that all of this was taking place within earshot of teachers and no one
would intervene! She told me that later
in the day; some white students were talking about some African American
students and saying they should go back to being slaves. After confiding in a teacher about what was
happening, she decided to go tell an administrator. Simply put, she was told that there were a
lot of “rednecks” in the community and there wasn’t anything the school could
do.
I’ve been an educator for
seventeen years and have never seen anything as bad as this! What have we as a Nation become? The past four years have done nothing to
strengthen us as communities and Americans.
In fact, people are more racially divided that ever before. Since when is it ok to completely eviscerate a
person, especially a fifteen or sixteen year old girl or boy (yes, they are still children), simply because you don’t
agree with him/her? As Americans, how
have we allowed and condoned this type of behavior from our children? Does getting out the youth vote mean to
completely radicalize our children and turn them into uncivilized humans that
are so intolerant of anyone who dares to disagree with them? Has the far left succeeded in creating a new
generation of voters that will faithfully follow their lead by inciting
violence and tearing down anyone who dares to disagree? If Alinsky (or Harry Reid) type behavior and tactics from the
left have become normalized in every day interactions, why are we surprised to
witness the same type of behavior from those students from the right? Where are
the adults? Why is this behavior
accepted?
While watching post-election
coverage, almost everyone mentioned the fact that the left has strategically
“targeted” the youth for the past 5 or 6 years and in doing so has secured a
group of faithful and loyal supporters.
Excuse me! Those are our
children! I have been fighting the government overreach into our states,
schools, and lives for a while now. I am
convinced that this type of “targeting” does nothing but breed hatred, racism,
and cultural intolerance. I refuse to allow my children and the children of America
to be used as pawns in this supposedly new bipartisan and transparent America! If
this is what four years under the current president has done for the youth of
our Country, I shudder to think of what the next four years will do. I have never in my lifetime seen people so
racially divided and bitter. The part
that is most shocking to me is what is happening to our kids as a result of
this. Are we as parents not having
crucial conversations with our kids about politics, elections, and civic
responsibility? Have our kids become
tolerant of so much, that they think nothing of using racial slurs and attacks
for simple viewpoints?
As Americans, it is time to
start having those crucial and sometimes uncomfortable conversations with our
kids about what our own values and beliefs are and how we as a Nation need to
conduct ourselves. I refuse to believe
that this is it. All is not lost, but it is up to us as parents, Americans, and
teachers to stop this “targeting” of our youth.
We would never send our kids into the world without talking to them
about the dangers of drugs and alcohol and the consequences of use. Why on earth would we send them out into the
world without having conversations about civic responsibilities and how to
conduct themselves in a respectable manner no matter with whom they agree or
disagree? As Americans, we can do
better. We have to. Our integrity as a Nation is at stake. We may not be able to monitor every move our
child makes. We may not be able to guide
them 24/7. We can, however, make sure
we arm them with the tools they will need in the future to begin to resist the
propaganda being perpetuated in our schools, on TV, and in the mainstream
media. Will you stand with me to reclaim
our children from the grips of those who wish to simply use them as pawns in an
attempt to fundamentally transform us into something unrecognizable to the rest
of the world? If not us, who? If not now, when? The future of The United States of America is
at stake. Don’t let it slip away on our watch!
