You've Got To Stand For Something Or You'll Fall For Anything....

Country Western songs have the greatest titles, don't they? This is one of my favorites, although I can't really recall who it was that sang it. The first time I heard the song I knew that this would be something I would pass on to my children with great fervor, and I did. Or at least I think I did. I tried to anyway. I can tell you that both of my children are VERY opinionated and still alive, so I guess it worked to a certain point.

Still, I think it's a key issue in the education of one's children. Of course, you don't want to raise delicate little flowers and then send them out into the world to be eaten alive by all the greedy monsters out there. Therefore, one must, at a certain age of understanding, make one's children aware of the horrors dangers that lie beyond the securities of home. I'm not saying you have to traumatize them with tales of the world's evils or anything. I'm merely trying to say that you just can't shelter or protect them these days. Knowledge is power and if you're overprotective, you're not doing them any great favors. Children these days are much savvier about their world than we were at their age, and yet so naive in many other ways. I believe that they very often don't believe the images and stories they see on TV and in movies, so it's not real to them.

For instance... Do you remember playing *jacks* and *hop-scotch* in grade school? I don't think they even do that anymore, which is a shame. It seems as if everyone is just training their little future athletes, computer wizards or brainiacs these days, whether the child likes it or not. I can honestly say that I'm glad we spent summers doing nothing more than eating Popscicles, sweeping the driveway for a quarter, rescuing baby birds, catching fireflies at night, having water balloon fights against the guys and playing *Kick-The-Can* until our parents called us to come home, often followed by gentle threats to get us there. Those were times when we could actually allow our minds to rest from all the school work done during the other 9 months of the year.  It just seems like there is so much pressure on kids these days. It's a competitive world out there and they know it.

I remember a time when we still said the Pledge of Allegiance in school with shining pride in our country. Our teachers got a 3 month paid vacation every year, which made them work just that much harder during the school year. Those were times that we were still allowed to say prayers in school without persecution, detention or expulsion.

We had a music teacher that taught us all the important songs of patriotism and taught us to square dance (as if we were going to need that skill someday). How many kids can sing America The Beautiful and The National Anthem all the way through these days?



Of course, there was a lot of injustice in the world back then, but there still is. All we've done is trade off here and there for this and that, with nothing truly changing. If my generation succeeded at anything, it was to at least raise awareness of the injustices that were once swept under the rug.

The government is still trying to get all up in our business, demanding more taxes than ever, and trying to control more of our personal time. Women still don't make equivalent salaries to men (in the majority of cases) for doing the same jobs, and in most cases are still the main caregiver of the family. Women just work more than ever now. Children are still abused physically and sexually and often murdered. Automobiles are no safer than they have ever been. Crime continues to rise and there is only one commune left in America (thank goodness... that was never a very good idea). Wars still rage on and there is still an overabundance of hatred in the world.

Honestly, I'm beginning to think that my generation (yeah, the ones who burned our bras, wanted pot to be legalized and wanted peace in the world) are directly responsible for this. We didn't know what the Hell we were doing except when we protested against the Viet Nam War (okay, we didn't know then either). Otherwise, we were merely idealists and romanticists who had no real clue as to the effect our actions would have on the future, albeit ultimately not our original intentions. I'm only speaking for myself, of course. Then, we grew up and went on to live mostly productive lives while raising families. We conformed, really. How on earth did that happen?

The fact is that none of us has even an inkling as to what our future holds or the impact our actions will have on that very future. So, back to my title. You've got to stand for something or you'll fall for anything. In summation, it all boils down to the reality that we should always be careful what we stand for... for we will surely see it come to fruition.