Get the feedAre We Raising Kids Who Could Storm Omaha Beach?
Friday, Oct 16th 2009
Mike, those are some fascinating articles, and I'll try to read the book in between gaming sessions. It strikes me that for some time we've been orienting our kids toward a world that doesn't--and can't--exist, a world drained of significant conflict, violence, or pain. So when the world as it is rears its ugly head, they aren't trained to respond in a constructive way. I'm not all that surprised about the Clifford/Star Wars study, but in a different way. People who are raised in sanitized environments are often the first to learn that violence and aggression are very quick shortcuts to accomplishing their goals, mostly because they are surrounded by easily intimidated people.
Ever since my deployment, I have a different perspective on child-rearing. There is brutality out there that we cannot fathom or imagine, and I don’t want to raise delicate little flowers who can survive and thrive only so long as they are walled off in our idyllic rural enclave here in Tennessee. I guess the short way of saying this is that I want to raise a son who could storm Omaha Beach. Not that I would want him to face such horror, but I want to raise him to be a man who could.
Look, we're in a long war. I expect to be still fighting in Afghanistan 10 years from now. And I don't want either of my kids to be the type of people who will assume that others will do the fighting for them. And in that sense, I think the year I spent in Iraq--introducing them to the idea that our country and our liberty are worth fighting for and when they know that some of Daddy's friends died in that fight--could be the best parenting I ever did or will do.
Ever since my deployment, I have a different perspective on child-rearing. There is brutality out there that we cannot fathom or imagine, and I don’t want to raise delicate little flowers who can survive and thrive only so long as they are walled off in our idyllic rural enclave here in Tennessee. I guess the short way of saying this is that I want to raise a son who could storm Omaha Beach. Not that I would want him to face such horror, but I want to raise him to be a man who could.
Look, we're in a long war. I expect to be still fighting in Afghanistan 10 years from now. And I don't want either of my kids to be the type of people who will assume that others will do the fighting for them. And in that sense, I think the year I spent in Iraq--introducing them to the idea that our country and our liberty are worth fighting for and when they know that some of Daddy's friends died in that fight--could be the best parenting I ever did or will do.
David French
David French is a Harvard educated lawyer, writer, and soldier. His next book, about his year spent in Iraq, comes out on July 4, 2011. Connect with him on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/DavidAustinFrench and follow him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/davidafrench.
Comments
by Anonymous #
fizzbin, our children are taught that all violence is wrong, America is oppressive and unredeemable, and 9/11 was brought upon ourselves by such nastiness. This is wrong; "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing," as Edmund Burke said. People like Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden depend upon it.
by Clayton Heselschwerdt #
I know this article is a bit old, but I just wanted to through my 2 cents at fizzbin.
We won our portion of the war by muscling our industrial edge. In short we out built the enemy. You blow up one tank, we make 3 more.
As for how we raise our children I will not get involved on the topic, but look around you, "My cell phone broke" is the Rapture!
We won our portion of the war by muscling our industrial edge. In short we out built the enemy. You blow up one tank, we make 3 more.
As for how we raise our children I will not get involved on the topic, but look around you, "My cell phone broke" is the Rapture!
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by fizzbin #