Frankie and Slim

Frankie and Slim
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Monday, November 24, 2014

UNFAIR? I WILL SHOW YOU UNFAIR!!

Question Of The Week 11-24-17

SHOULD CHILDREN BE SHELTERED FROM UNHAPPINESS?


19 comments:

  1. The natural instinct is to help any child through unhappiness.
    It isn't always possible to prevent them experiencing unhappiness if - for instance -they lose a parent, they have to know and learn through love and kindness how to survive. Off the top of my head.

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  2. PAT, that was an excellent response to be so spontaneous.

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  3. We try to protect them as much as we can, but we also have to harden them as they get older so they can handle all that this crazy world throws at them. I want my grandchildren to be well-armored but not having to carry armor so heavy they can no longer move in this life.

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  4. The unhappiness of dropping an ice cream cone on the sidewalk---no. The unhappiness of not having a home, clothing, food to eat, protection from abuse--yes.

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  5. I think it almost has to depend on the child/person. Some thrive with the "hard knocks of life" and others fold up and wither away. It probably depends on one's inner strength and genes. I've been thankful that I grew up in the school of hard knocks because it made me a survivor and a fighter but I had friends when growing up who were shielded from any unhappiness and they grew up to be a mental mess. Who can really tell?

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  6. No. Not sheltered - but supported through it.
    Unhappiness does happen, it will happen - and we need to know that there are people who have our backs and things we can do to move forward...

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  7. I don't think so. I think we forget that we couldn't measure happiness if we didn't have some unhappiness to compare it to. Life is difficult. It's not fair. It's complicated, messy, and sometimes downright horrifying. Depending on age, of course, I think children understand a lot more than we tend to give them credit for. To shelter a child to the point where life is not real...that would be a great disservice.

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  8. Elephant Child spoke my thoughts. I don't thing they should be protected but supported and to know that someone they can count on always has their back.

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  9. Being unhappy is a part of life...a child can't be sheltered from unhappiness all the time. And it wouldn't be normal for them not to be unhappy at different times. That's not how life or humans operate.

    They have to learn how to cope somehow...life is full of unhappy times and if a person, a child, never experienced being unhappy how does a person deal with it? Not well, I imagine.

    That's why I think it's important for children to have a pet...caring for and loving an animal teaches a child so much about life.

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  10. Anonymous5:45 PM

    I think protecting children for unhappiness is a bit dangerous. The best thing we can to is to teach our children to learn to live with unhappiness and resilience.

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  11. Sheltered no, they need to be taught the skills to Live in this world. They need to know you have their backs, but they are accountable for their actions.

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  12. No - they have to be able to work through things they have in store for them, I guess.

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  13. Parents should be a safety net around their kids to protect against the big falls in life, but kids have to learn to handle the little falls on their own.

    Sometimes it's hard to know the difference between big and little.

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  14. No. I still regret not going to my grampa's funeral when I was 8 or 9.

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  15. Well - having no children but two younger siblings, the only thing I think we can do is show them how to be kind, and when something inevitable happens that is sad or unfair, be there and explain, as best we can, that they can pick themselves up again.

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  16. you ask a heavy question, but I expect that...we all grow from difficulty. Do we want any child to suffer? certainly not, but it happens all beyond our abilities to help them or protect them. When it does happen, then it is our time to help them through it.

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  17. I hope you and your family have a very Happy Thanksgiving, Annie. :)

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  18. My grandkids are so happy- but they are somewhat sheltered n spoiled. I wasn't, n I was depressed alot.
    But without understanding what can happen, the young have no sense of danger n get taken by surprise when stuff happens in their life.
    There is a time for both good n bad.

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  19. TO ALL OF YOU: I believe we are on the same page. The hard knocks teach us about living. If we didn't fall down, we would never learn how to get back up.

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