Heroes
It's been a while....very busy these days.
"We used to be a nation of pioneers. Now we are a nation of victims and plaintiffs."-unknown
What a great quote. In some of my reading on raising kids, I came across the idea that the heroes we are raised on can have a great impact
on our future aspirations. I thought of the men I loved to imitate as a kid: Zorro, Superman, Sgt. Saunders 0f Combat !(all baby boomers remember that show!) ...and Davy Crockett. Who do kids have to emulate today? Spongebob? Raven? I honestly can't think of a kid's show with a bonafide hero who each week models integrity, valor, and sacrifice (Spiderman, etc. is not for young kids-even the cartoons can be a little edgy sometimes.)
Above is my son and his best friend, ready for another round of Davy Crockett adventures, complete with long rifles, powder horns, and coonskin caps. They have watched the old Disney series on DVD and loved it. For months and months they were out practicing their marksmanship, fighting river pirates, and yes, even Indians (er, Native Americans) We have read his biography too. Crockett was quite a guy and embraced faith in God as well as integrity. He even served in the U.S. Congress, not an easy place to live out those qualites! Though fighting Indians may not seem very PC, you will find he only did it in self defense. He fought Pres. Andrew Jackson's policies on relocating the Eastern tribes while he served in Congress, which earned him much trouble from the angry president(he thought it was a crime to take away their lands). His death at the Alamo is well known, though shrowded in mystery. Regardless of how he died, he went there to help the underdogs, something he seemed to have a passion for.
So will all this have a positive impact on my son? Well, he's only 10, but I have already seem him insist on fair play in all sorts of situations and even stand up for the underdogs on his soccer team, etc. He has a ton of compassion for others, prays readily, and has no desire to really hurt anybody, but knows he may have to to protect others. Obviously, I hope this is mostly due to his Christian upbringing and the Holy Spirit in his life. But it doesn't hurt to have a flesh and blood hero to admire.
And he knows ol' Davy's motto by heart: "Be sure your'e right, and then go ahead!" All in all, not a bad philosophy of life.
Thanks Davy. We could use a few more heroes like you.
posted by Rob | 12:50 PM
2 Comments:
A lamentation well-heard, Rob. Elizabeth and I have often talked about how our culture's values are expressed in kid-targeted media.
I'm sure it was beginning to change when I was a kid some 25 years ago, but at what point did we go from having heros who were mostly people (Superman, Batman, Davy Crockett, etc. with Rin Tin Tin and Lassie on the side) to heros who are mostly animals, aliens, or odd creatures (Spongebob, Pokemon, etc. with Dora on the side)?
And, does anyone remember when our heroes used to save and value people? Now it seems that people are the bad guys. Once while visiting family, our kids watched an episode of a show called Wonder Pets where the entire show was devoted to saving a tree in the midst of a big, bad city. Not that taking care of creation is a bad thing, but I am amazed at times how much we see other things valued more than people.
I do understand that kids are naturally drawn to cartoon animals and such which in and of itself is fine (Scooby Doo or Muppet Show anyone?) We are probably average to above average Veggietales consumers ourselves, But, sometimes I even wish that Larry was a cop and Bob was a fireman.
On the positive side of things, however, the recent trend of releasing seemingly every TV show there ever was on DVD does provide parents opportunities to expose kids to some of the "good old" shows. We recently picked up several episodes of The Andy Griffith show. It's not always perfect (there used to be a lot more smoking and such on TV), but if presented with a choice between Spongebob and Sheriff Andy Taylor, you can guess what my family would choose.
We'll have to check out the Davy Crockett DVDs. Luke has the perfect pop gun for it (but don't tell the PC police).
Rob- You know what I find most humbling? Is while I had 4 years to get to know this intelligent, and passionate side of you, I often missed it because I was too busy arguing with you!! Now, I find that although there is much I still disagree with, I have so much to learn from you and all that you think about. I read the 33 comments from the highly controversial blog, and just found myself thinking... that's the way I sounded too.. Sorry that I came across as my answer was the only answer, I don't regret standing for what I believed in, just that my delivery could have been a little more loving...
Also, even though there are so many things we see differently, how you raise your kids is not one of them. I continue to pray that God will help Wes and I to do the same!! Many blessings, and we have truly missed you guys!
thanks, Niki
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