Childhood Hero Day is June 13 and Megan at Imaginif suggested bloggers might like to post an article (or story) ahead of time… to bring attention to the day… and awareness to the fact that kids everywhere need… now more than ever… heroes in their lives!
I have written both… an article… and a story (dredged from the depths of the family archive! laughs) which I shall post next time. But for now… the article (and of course… the cartoon!)
Cartoon Pen & Watercolour Copyright 2008 Jean Burman
A recent report “Children’s Fears, Hopes and Heroes – Modern Childhood in Australia” surveyed 600 10 – 14 year olds… and revealed that kids today believe they have much to worry about!
It turns out that:
52% of children are scared that there will not be enough water in the future
44% of children are worried about the future impacts of climate change
43% of children are worried about pollution in the air and water
A third of children are anxious about terrorism.
And a staggering one in four believe that the world will end before they have the chance to grow up!
Add to this concerns of… bullying… obesity… thinness… self image… peer pressure… and acceptance… along with the day to day “stuff” of growing up in the fast pace of modern life (sometimes in environments burdened by excessive financial and emotional hardship)… and there you have it… one gargantuan block of issues to worry about!
What can we adults be thinking? (And by adults I mean all of us… not just parents but also the greater community)
Why do we burden them so?
Childhood just has to be a time when children can simply “be children”!
If not then… then when?
They need us now more than ever to buffer their experiences… to listen to them… (and really hear)… to love them… to shelter and protect them… and to be there to tell them that everything’s going to be okay!
And it will be okay.
Despite the doomsday bleatings of the press… and despite the worrying trends of a world which seems at times to be spinning dangerously out of control… and despite the many and varied modern day issues (some of them serious) that children face today… they WILL be okay.
Just as long as we are there for them… 100%… and they know it…no matter what!
{ 3 trackbacks }
{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
As a small child (5-10) I would lie in bed at night listening for the sound of airplanes, convinced when I heard one approaching from the distance that it was going to drop an atomic bomb on our house. There was always an enormous relief when the sound faded away.
Love the art, as always.
Oh Jean…thank you. It is wonderful to see bloggers using the blogosphere for change and protection. You have just added a dollar to the collection pot for the Australian Childhood Foundation. I’ll also add this post to the Carnival of Australia and Blog On Cairns if that is okay with you.
Thanks John!
How terrifying that must have been to hear those planes going over not knowing what was to come. Funny how everyday things can take on gargantuan proportions in the minds of sensitive children! My experience has been… even with my own children… that kids hide their fears away too frightened to tell about them!
When I was very small (around 3 years old) my family lived out in the country on a sugar cane farm. During harvesting… huge cane trains (not the small locos they have now) would pass the house regularly throughout the day to cart the cut cane to the mill.
They were big and black and scarey (esp to a 3 year old) and made a heck of a noise as they roared into earshot. I used to be so frightened when I heard one coming I would immediately run upstairs into my parent’s bedroom and hide behind the curtains there! One day my mother came to find me and took me out onto the front lawn to meet one of the engines and to wave to the driver. Suddenly the monster was back in it’s box!
It’s a scarey enough prospect when the fear is simply imagined. For some children (esp those living in situations of abuse and neglect) their fears are often fully realised. They are the ones who really need “a hero to come along”…
That’s fine with me Megan. Thank you!
Glad I could help in some small way. I will be back later in the day to buy my crusader’s cape and make a donation!
I remember being worried about a war in the late 30′s. It came and went.
Precisely Roger! (Great to see you here btw!
)
You and John both point to the absolute truth! The world is not really much different then to now. Perhaps the only difference is that nowadays we have a news hungry media eager to sell newspapers and air time… who beat up issues and break news of disasters… tragedies… wars… and every other catastrophic event in up-to-the minute sound bites! The world is a scary enough place already without having the stark reality (complete with histrionic embellishment) brought right into our living rooms 24/7. No wonder kids are freaked out!
I remember back in the day when the ABC news came over the radio. There was something especially soothing in the announcer’s calm and authoritative voice… (grin) He instilled a sensible confidence that although the world as we knew it might be falling apart… we could rest assured that we could still wake up in the morning and have our radios to listen to! (((chuckles)))
Hello Jean – another beautiful verse and cartoon. This post really hit a chord with me and I agree completely – kids should be kids for as long as possible. One of the greatest wrong doings in the world is taking a childhood away. Sadly, it seems to be happening more and more.
I think we all tend to take life too seriously, and some people seem intent on passing that seriousness onto their children – either intentionally or not. There are many ways that children lose their precious years. Sometimes with responsibility, sometimes with acts of plain evil, sometimes out of circumstances beyond control, such as the loss of a parent.
Hence my commitment to the Abused Child Trust, which by the way, has just been renamed to ACT for Kids – an organisation like Imaginif (Megan) and many, many others who are working around the world to make this a better planet for our children.
Thank you for such a thoughtful commentary Jean.
With love,
AG
Hi AG… so great to see you here!
Yes… I have noted and greatly admired your involvement with the Abused Child Trust. Kids really do need real life heroes and it’s so reassuring to know that there are good people like you… (along with Megan and others in organisations across the planet) doing whatever it takes to help. Bravo!
Thanks for your lovely comments!