There once was a bucket. It was never full. No matter how much water was poured into it, it was always either running low or empty. What was the problem?
It had a hole in it.
Many kids today are growing up with "holes" in them. They exhibit all kinds of behavior wherein they try to "warn us". We simply aren't looking for these particular signs. We're so busy looking at the top of the bucket, filling it with the proper food, education and what "we" as a society think needs to be in there, we fail to check for leaks.
And we have some big ones.
Abraham Maslow outlines a person's "hierarchy of needs" as fundamental to our survival, health and general well-being. They are physical survival (our basic needs), safety & security, social and relationships, success and achievements and self-actualization.
If any one of these "buckets" is empty or leaking, problems ensue. The real question is - who is checking the buckets? Our classrooms are filled with students of diverse learning abilities and disabilities and with over 16 million kids diagnosed with some type of learning issue; the "average" child is merely non-existent. Education budgets have been slashed, standards have been raised ("No Child Left Intact" as some have called it), and teachers are strapped trying to meet the needs of many different children.
Parents are typically both working; some even more than one job. Kids are in after-school programs, with babysitters or some even on their own. Televisions and technology have become our new "watch dogs" and our children are over-exposed and under-protected. Doctors have been called in - but with 20 million prescriptions of Ritain being written each year - its known side effects and ineffectiveness (effective in less than 70% of the cases), the problem is still not resolved... and it is continually growing.
We have some leaks.
We gasp in horror when rampant school shootings occur (and thank God, we still do - we have not become despondent about this horror), and the rise in bullying is alarming! Yet, we look around for someone to blame and realize - we all have blood on our hands. This is a societal problem. We fail our children in many, many ways. We fail them when we force them to grow up too soon. We fail them when we rob them of an education that could be rich with experiences, but end up being driven by test scores. We fail them when we force two parents into the workforce so that no one is there when they come home so they must consult the Internet for their deepest problems and questions. We fail them when we tell them they can be anything they want when they grow up when we are not ensuring that that actually happens.
We have some leaks.
Wanna stop the leaks? There is no "one size fits all" or a cure-all. That's for sure. But, we start but by looking for leaks. The answers are closer than we think. They're under our feet, grabbing at our pant legs - vying for our attention.
To learn more go to monsterproofyourchild.com where you can download your FREE copy of "The Life Survival Guide" for kids.
To learn more, download a FREE copy of "The Life Survival Guide" for kids and learn more about how YOU can be an advocate for your child by going to www.monsterproofyourchild.com/info/.
Lisa Smith is a the founder of www.monsterproofyourchild.com, certified neurotherapist and neurodevelopmentalist and mother of a child who has been cured of autism! Lisa provides tips for raising children who are equipped for our world full of "monsters."
By LisaMarie Smith
It had a hole in it.
Many kids today are growing up with "holes" in them. They exhibit all kinds of behavior wherein they try to "warn us". We simply aren't looking for these particular signs. We're so busy looking at the top of the bucket, filling it with the proper food, education and what "we" as a society think needs to be in there, we fail to check for leaks.
And we have some big ones.
Abraham Maslow outlines a person's "hierarchy of needs" as fundamental to our survival, health and general well-being. They are physical survival (our basic needs), safety & security, social and relationships, success and achievements and self-actualization.
If any one of these "buckets" is empty or leaking, problems ensue. The real question is - who is checking the buckets? Our classrooms are filled with students of diverse learning abilities and disabilities and with over 16 million kids diagnosed with some type of learning issue; the "average" child is merely non-existent. Education budgets have been slashed, standards have been raised ("No Child Left Intact" as some have called it), and teachers are strapped trying to meet the needs of many different children.
Parents are typically both working; some even more than one job. Kids are in after-school programs, with babysitters or some even on their own. Televisions and technology have become our new "watch dogs" and our children are over-exposed and under-protected. Doctors have been called in - but with 20 million prescriptions of Ritain being written each year - its known side effects and ineffectiveness (effective in less than 70% of the cases), the problem is still not resolved... and it is continually growing.
We have some leaks.
We gasp in horror when rampant school shootings occur (and thank God, we still do - we have not become despondent about this horror), and the rise in bullying is alarming! Yet, we look around for someone to blame and realize - we all have blood on our hands. This is a societal problem. We fail our children in many, many ways. We fail them when we force them to grow up too soon. We fail them when we rob them of an education that could be rich with experiences, but end up being driven by test scores. We fail them when we force two parents into the workforce so that no one is there when they come home so they must consult the Internet for their deepest problems and questions. We fail them when we tell them they can be anything they want when they grow up when we are not ensuring that that actually happens.
We have some leaks.
Wanna stop the leaks? There is no "one size fits all" or a cure-all. That's for sure. But, we start but by looking for leaks. The answers are closer than we think. They're under our feet, grabbing at our pant legs - vying for our attention.
To learn more go to monsterproofyourchild.com where you can download your FREE copy of "The Life Survival Guide" for kids.
To learn more, download a FREE copy of "The Life Survival Guide" for kids and learn more about how YOU can be an advocate for your child by going to www.monsterproofyourchild.com/info/.
Lisa Smith is a the founder of www.monsterproofyourchild.com, certified neurotherapist and neurodevelopmentalist and mother of a child who has been cured of autism! Lisa provides tips for raising children who are equipped for our world full of "monsters."
By LisaMarie Smith
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