Our Greatest Asset
When I think about wealth, immediately my mind thinks in terms of money, investments savings and those who are wealthy. When I hear reports of school shootings, children being tried and incarcerated for murder, drugs and a barrage of other crimes, it is apparent that what has become lost amongst the things we have considered to bring wealth, is our most valuable asset, our children. I found some disturbing statistics from many experts on children and child develop. The comments and statistics that I’ve found were:
"Students ages 12-18 were victims of about 2 million nonfatal crimes of violence or theft at school in 2001. Over the 5 year period from 1997 through 2001 teachers were victims of approximately 1.3 million nonfatal crimes at school, including 817,000 thefts and 473,000 violence crimes... It was also reported that “9 percent of all elementary and secondary schools teacher were threatened with an injury by a student, and 4 percent were physically attacked by a student.” The US National Center for Education Statistics.
"More than a third of American Children experience their parents divorce before reaching 18. … In general children who have recently experienced a family dissolution have a more difficult time with academic and social expectations at school than children from intact families or established single parent or blended families.” The Journal of Instructional Psychology
"57% of expulsions for bringing firearms to school involved high school students. 33% involved junior/middle schools, and 10% involved
elementary school students. (Gun-Free Schools Act Report: School Year 1998-1999, U.S. Department of Education, October 2002)
These are only a few of the frighting incidences of what is happening to our children. These tragic events are affecting all of our children in some aspect of their lives. What have experts found to be the cause of such disturbing events?
1. Many parents are enslaved by a materialistic society. As a result a large amounts of time is spent working and less time to do the necessary things to bond with their children
2. Many parents have been physically and verbally abused by their parents, as a form of discipline. Such discipline has had a negative effect on how parents view discipline. So parents are more lenient and are reluctant to discipline.
3. The media has produced so many violent films, television shows and games. According to "Science" magazine" six major professional societies in the United States," linked agressive behavior in some children"
4. Computers use is often not supervised by parents, allowing teens and children to be exposed to violence, pornography and child predators.
Upholding family values and principles, communicating, and setting reasonable boundaries are some of the things we can do to save our most valuable asset.
About the Author
Gloria Kaiser owns an online bookstore, www.fancybooks.com. She is orginally from Cincinnati, Ohio. However, she now resides in the place that she loves, Arizona, with her husband Eric and her daughter Crystal.
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