Back to the Basics

A few weeks ago, my family and I were standing in line at the Penguin exhibit at Sea World, Olrando.  It was hot. I mean sticky, sweaty, and exhaustingly hot. We had not yet made it into the cold air inside and it was taunting us. 

Behind me was a little boy around 4 years old. He was not tired. He was full of energy and standing in a crowded line was not conducive to his level of liveliness.  He was constantly moving in-between his family and others standing around him, climbing on rocks and being really loud.  It was Sea World; he’s allowed to be excited, though it was getting to be a bit much. He was also, though unintentionally, stepping on our feet and bumping into us a lot.  

The boy’s behavior didn’t bother me as much as what the grandmother did to try to control him. The mother was standing there as well, apparently oblivious to the whole thing.  Instead of stopping him and explaining to him why his behavior was unacceptable, grandma threatened him with bodily harm…from me! She told him if he didn’t stop, I was going to hit him. I couldn’t believe my ears! I looked at this little boy, looking up at me, and told him that I was not going to hit him. Thankfully the line moved and we were finally inside the exhibit.

Now, I realize this woman was joking, but the little boy didn’t know that. To him, I was the bad guy. To him, he needed to stop what he was doing so that I wouldn’t hit him, not because it was inconsiderate.  I was just standing there, minding my own business; how did I become the bad guy? 

How will children ever learn that their behavior and actions are their own responsibility if we put the blame off on other people? How will they learn that their behavior affects other people and they should be considerate of others, not because bodily harm will come to them, but because it’s the right to do?

This is part of the problem with today’s culture; we, as a society, are not teaching our children to take responsibility for their own actions. We blame everyone else, so our kids do too. We are not teaching them to respect and think about other people. And often, like the oblivious mom in this scenario, we want other people to do our parenting for us. 

So many kids grow up having no regard for anyone but themselves. Whatever happened to plain old good manners? When did teaching manners become cliché? It’s time we take back our role as parents and teach our kids how to have self-control, to take responsibility for their words and actions and live respectfully in a society with other people.