Too many Americans are ignoring what is happening around them. Some people do not want to listen to the news, as it often points out some negative issues that are surrounding us. The old adages “Ignorance is bliss,” “no news is good news” and “put your head in the sand” often mean to block out harmful events that will keep you up at night.
Ignoring the world around us creates ignorance. Many Americans are doing this. Too many of us do not want to hear what is happening around us and, no less, what is taking place in hotspots around the world. Most Americans would rather watch comedies, fantasies, or sports than learn what is happening with our own government’s decisions on domestic and foreign policies. Some of these decisions directly affect our lives, but much of the population does not know about them. Many of us are ignorant of government actions because we do not want to think, decide, or have to worry. It is much easier to ignore the world around us than to take a stand.
In the past, parents wanted to know from teachers, neighbors, and family members how their children acted when not in their house, especially if they acted inappropriately. The parents understood that most children acted better when the parents were nearby than when they were unsupervised in the community. Formerly, parents were concerned about keeping their children on a straight and narrow path. They were aware that there were many temptations outside the home.
Today, some parents are incredibly naïve and lazy. They are not aware, or they do not want to think that their children can be influenced by others. They may not want to know that children can create devastatingly horrible lies and do other negative behaviors that their children can imitate or even initiate. Many modern parents want to believe they are such good role models and perceptive individuals that their children cannot hide any negative actions from them.
When these parents learn about any negative behavior from their children’s friends, they cannot fathom that their own children might be inclined to participate in this behavior. The parents’ first reaction is to blame the adult in charge for allowing the inappropriate behavior or blame the other students, but never their own children, for bringing some obnoxious behavior to the group.
Many Americans have both parents working in full-time professions. These parents can hire nannies and put their children in private schools. Their children are often dressed well, are polite, and have good manners. They have learned the art of hiding any misbehavior. Their sneakiness deserves high grades. When these children are caught doing something inappropriate, they are experts at stringing a reasonable story together to get them out of any significant consequences.
These families, with all their affluence, realize their children are arrogant and ignorant of their subject matter. They have been dishonest about how well they are learning and doing. The report cards and notes inform the parents that the student is not applying as great an effort in their academic studies as they say they are.
The parent must accept that their child is being dishonest with them and that the parents are not being honest with themselves. The parent finally realizes they were too blind to accept other professional’s observations and appraisals of their children. They have to admit that even at home, they let many inappropriate behaviors slide to the point where the children became professional liars to others and to themselves.
Ignoring one’s own children’s statements, actions and other authority figure’s assessments is not a good policy for raising outstanding young people. Parental ignorance of their children’s behavior leads to a false arrogance that eventually may end with a less-than-happy ending.
What modern parents need to do in our world today is return to verifying their child’s word by looking over their assignments and tests. This verification process will keep the adolescent on an optimal pace to produce a higher quality of work every time. Honesty in one’s performance makes the individual better able to improve, resulting in more learning and better grades.
Knowledge is power, especially in keeping teenagers motivated. When loved ones know the accurate level of their child’s achievements and/or failures, it keeps the person humble and hungry to do even better. The honesty of performance keeps youngsters focused on improving in every way. This results in heightened focus and better performance.
Domenick Maglio, PhD. is a columnist carried by various newspapers and blogs, an author of several books and owner/director of Wider Horizons School, a college prep program. Dr. Maglio is an author of weekly newspaper articles, INVASION WITHIN and the latest book entitled, IN CHARGE PARENTING In a PC World. You can see many of Dr. Maglio’s articles at www.drmaglioblogspot.com.
