preserving childhood innocence

[Guest guest]

Dear Saruj Kaur,

As the mother of three very sweet tender, affectionate grown

children (ages 25,23& 21.) I am of the strong opinion that children

must be protected from unneccessary exposure to pain. However the

parent should be honest with the child (on a level he/she

understands) should something come to the child's attention. Often

it is wiser to bring a difficult topic to a child's attention first,

before others can do so in a crude manner.

 

I was born in the mid-fifties, my father was an American soldier in

WWII. I only found out 18 months ago, after his passing, that he was

the American soldier to be asked by the US Army to take official

document photographs of the conditions found at Bergen-Belsen

Concentration Camp. His photos consisted of people in unspeakable

condition.

 

I thank God neither of my parents burdened us as little children

with detailed descriptions of the Holocaust; or the fact that of

their own grandparents and all of their cousins in Lithuania were

decimated by it. (I worry about the young people in Germany now

being burdened with guilt for something they had NOTHING to do with.)

 

When a child is taught love and kindness and respect from an early

age instead of fear, then in the teenage years he is prepared to

learn about the different faces of the world with the cushion that

the haven of home and family have given him. With that strong

foundation of love comes a greater ability to withstand the harsh

realities because the person knows that HOME (in the purest sense of

LOVE) exists within himself to return to.

 

So dear, Saruj Kaur, follow your mother's-heart and your own

instinct with your own child. You know him best. History will be

there for you to discuss it with him even in 10 years from now. What

will discussing the terrorists NOW do to help him? It would only

serve the will of the terrorists and terrify him.

May God Bless and Protect all children,

Niminy Cricket