Making Small Problems into Big Issues

     In this country we seem to excel at turning small problems in to big, no gigantic issues. Maybe it's in all countries but my experience lies in the USA, so I'll confine my comments to my home country. I've noticed this for some time now. It happens at schools, all grade levels including colleges, which is particularly disturbing since college students are about to enter the real world.

     You frequently here a news report about a school identifying a derogatory note posted or unkind word used toward another at school. These are problems but they have been problems since the beginning of time. In the past they were dealt with by parents/teachers addressing the problem not the Internet world. As you may have noticed I listed parents first because teachers are meant to teach not raise your children, but many times they are forced to intervene in the parents behalf.

     Many times these derogatory notes or comments are unnecessarily brought to the attention of the police or news media as hate crimes. These are kids doing stupid kid things, which should be handled by those closest to the problem, parents and teachers. Running to the police or local news to show them a note that was posted upon the cafeteria bulletin about Muslim's, blacks, gay's, etc. inflates the issue instead of deflating it. This is not to say it should be ignored or handled like it was 50 years ago with fist fight in the schoolyard or back alley, but raising every issue to the national level is not helping.

     Now, it's possible that many parents and teachers are resolving some of these problems in a low-key fashion. There's no way for me to know. So to those adults working out these kid issues quietly, I would like to says congrats,. You're making a difference without shinning a spotlight on a problem that only needs a flashlight. Unfortunately, there still seems to be far too many people that are anxious to shine a spotlight on every problem that crosses their path.

     Is this a good lesson for our kids? We seem to be teaching them to run for help whenever they encounter any problem. Isn't it our job to teach our kids to handle daily problems and stick up for others that need their help?

     Children are like sponges, they learn by watching, so if they see the adults whining about every problem in life, that will influence their adult life. One last thought, don’t use social media as a parenting tool by shaming your child on line when they act bad, that’s not parenting. Know the difference. “Just Saying….”