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Worries Of a Child

My great-nephew Colton celebrated his seventh birthday this week. A celebratory lunch of his choice and a visit to Baskin Robbins for ice cream — a family birthday tradition — capped the day. He called it the best day of his life.

But several days before his birthday, Colton told his parents, “I’m worried about North Korea.” Say what? He is a 7-year-old child, an innocent, bright-eyed sweet child who is considerate and loving of others. His only concerns should be whether he can best his older brother at street hockey or if his favorite sports team will get a win today.

But he is a product of modern ages where the news of North Korea’s threats of a nuclear attack interrupt his cartoon watching. It is a sad statement on our world today. I just hope Colton doesn’t learn about the unrest in this country or the terrorist assaults happening around the world. Seven-year-old children in America should go to bed with happier thoughts on their minds.

None of what’s happening in our world today is child’s play. It’s serious stuff with sad and often tragic results. The history books my grandchildren will read in school are being rewritten at a fast pace. They have to be to keep up with all the changes that are occurring in our land.

As part of the baby boomer generation, our history lessons were pretty standard stuff — American history from the landing of the pilgrims to the battles of World War II. Yet, the past two or three decades have seen so many historic events in our government from a black president to stock trading and even mapping strategies of war via computers. The ink is barely dry before something new happens, changing the course of history.

I wouldn’t today want to be tasked with teaching young minds about what is happening around them. It may be called social studies, but there is nothing social about it. Riots, vehicles mowing down innocent people, shootings and other acts of violence are the headline makers that will one day show up on the pages of history books. These events will be difficult to explain in factual terms when so much false or misinformation surrounds them.

Remember when it was mistakenly reported that all of the coal miners at the Sago Mine disaster in West Virginia were safe and would be rescued? The heartache of the truth — only one man survived out of 13 — was almost too much to bear. It’s those types of miscues in news reporting that stain the pages of history.

I wish I could put our children in a bubble where they remain untouched by the violence, happy and safe on their playgrounds and in classrooms. I wouldn’t tell Colton, but I, too, am worried about North Korea, and bomb-toting terrorists, being in crowds and … the list goes on.

I want Colton and every other child to have the best days of their lives every day. Safe and sound. Now let’s go get some ice cream.

Heather Ziegler can be reached via email at: hziegler@theintelligencer.net.

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