If you have a school-age child, you either already know or will know all too soon that a plague is enveloping our schools these days. This plague has a name. Its name is DRAMA. You may think your child is immune to such things, but I assure you it will effect him/her in one way or another. What can we as parents do to reign it in?
I am blessed with two great sons. My oldest is thirteen, nearly fourteen. My youngest is seven. I thank God regularly for giving me sons. I have watched in horror over the last few years as daughters of my friends have been sucked into the black hole of drama. It seems that it's a destination of no return. That's not to say that boys are immune to it. They often are at the crux of the female drama. They even tend to become participants of it for the cause of one girl or another.
I do not understand this phenomenon. I don't feel as if it's been THAT long since I was a teenager myself. I simply do not recall the bitter hatefulness between peers then. I'm not saying I always got along with everyone. I had my share of run-ins with this girl or that girl, usually over a boy. It was a rarity, though. For the most part, I lived my life without concern of what others thought of me.
We live in a world today that offers our children no privacy. The kids are so connected by phones and internet that everyone knows everyone else's every move. We post our every move online to share with our "friends." We are constantly out and about running here and there. Our children have social lives that we never even dreamed of. If someone sees your child talking to or interacting with another kid, it immediately becomes headline news over the texting airwaves. Sadly, our kids are sharing more and more intimate details of their lives and feelings with anyone that will listen. They mistakenly believe that if you are their Facebook or MySpace friend, you are entitled to hear their deepest thoughts and feelings. I hate to say it, but we need to stress the difference in friends and "friends" to our children. They are daily learning the hard way that not everyone in their social network can be trusted.
I think there's a false sense of being closer to people now than ever. We do keep in closer touch by way of phones and internet. Yet I can't help but feel that we are losing a more personal connection with most of our so-called friends. It is important to look someone in the eye and hear the tone of their voice when you are sharing the vulnerability of your emotions with them. Your gut can't judge a person's intentions as well through written word.
We are raising an entire generation of people that will learn the hard way that you can expose too much of yourself to too many people. I think we need to foster those personal friendships, the ones where you actually spend time together. I also think that if we, as families, spent a little more time building relationships at home, our kids would not be searching for so many connections outside of their inner circle of friends. We must put a stop to this spirit-destroying evil called DRAMA. If we're not careful, it will chew our kids up and spit them out, permanently scarred from the damage done. Know what your kids are up to, and care about what they're up to. That's my prayer for this generation, that parents take an active role in overseeing where their kids are headed and steer them in the right direction.
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