Bumblebee Sweet Potato

I’m feeling really unhappy about the country that I’m bringing my kids up in right now. I was talking to a co-worker yesterday about it, and she made the point that it’s a sick society that preys on its own children. Over the last few weeks, there’s been the whole Mark Foley situation, where someone who purported to be protecting children was in fact preying on them. Then there’s been the two separate incidents of men taking school girls hostage, with sexual misdeeds in mind.

I’m very depressed about all these things, so I was really unhappy today to see this story.

I don’t want a war with Iran. I didn’t want a war with Iraq, or Afghanistan either, to be perfectly clear. I don’t think it’s making the world safer for my children–I think it’s making it worse.  And not just worse because it’s less safe with other countries–it’s less safe because we’re turning into an international bully, and when we do that, we’re sending a message that bullying behavior is okay.

That’s a bad message for adults to hear, and a worse message for kids growing up. We’re creating a completely militarized culture, and it’s my belief that by beating the drums for war, we tell kids that war is the normal state, not something that should be avoided at all costs.

So here’s my question for you, internets: how do you create a culture of peace at home, when live in a culture of war? How do you teach your children to resolve differences peacefully, when they don’t see the leaders of our country doing that?