2009 August, 10th

Mihaela Lica

Are we living in a world that no longer begins with “once upon a time?” Have all our children lost their innocence too soon?

A picture tells a thousand words, they say. Some pictures tell even more, and sometimes not the words we want to hear. Some pictures tell not stories of the past, but reveal a future we are probably not ready to embrace. At least I am not.

Girl shooting a bird at an old woman begging in the street. Image courtesy 1x.com

How can one describe the shock, the horror and the pain felt in front of such a picture. This is not a singular case as we know, this is not one child offending the elderly – this is the voice of a generation. This is also a reflection of a generation past that was supposed to prepare the young to face the world with dignity and more importantly with respect.

The image came to me in my StumbleUpon toolbar, sent by my friend Stacy with a short message: “our future generation.” For a while a sat in front of the monitor in disbelief, only to finally say it out loud: this is not a surprise!

You see, the image above it’s not a reflection of “parental” education; it’s a reflection of our society. This is the society that understands freedom as “exposure.” Talking too much and too open about sex for example is not freedom, is lack of decency. Exposing children to violence, lies, and all the improperness of the adult world is not freedom, is lack of responsibility. As humans we are social beings, as parents we struggle to educate our children in an already hostile environment. At home we tell them that shooting a bird at an old lady is wrong, but in the street, an adult leads by a different example.

It’s very easy to say “it’s the fault of the parents” – this line is apparently the absolution for many who refuse to see themselves as responsible for some of the issues that affect the health of the future society. Many times when I discuss about the presence of pornography on the web and how little children could be exposed to it, I get answers like “well it is up to parents and schools to watch over young people and how they use the net.” Answers like these are what’s wrong with our society. Of course the parents and the schools have the obligation to educate the young, but the job is getting very difficult if the society does not support these efforts. Children are vulnerable and react to stimuli we may never be aware of. They respond to parental eduction, they respond to school education, but they also learn from what they see around them: they learn from the bus driver who drives them to school, they learn from the people who wait in line in front of them at the store, they learn from the folks who gather together in the middle of the square to drink a bear and smoke in public… Children learn from everything and sometimes it’s hard for them to discern whether what they learn is a normal state of affairs or something they should avoid. The subconscious mind does not ask questions…

Take another look at the image above. I hear the last of the fairies weeping, I can see the last unicorn dying… The world is changing.

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About the Author

Mihaela Lica is senior partner at Pamil Visions PR and editor at Everything PR. She is a widely cited authority on search engine optimization and public relations issues (BBC News, Force for Good, Reuters, Al Jazeera and others), with an experience of over 8 years in online PR. Mihaela writes occasionally for SitePoint, Search Engine Journal, and other online publications. Follow Mig on Twitter or send her an email at mig [at] pamil-visions [dot] com.

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