Changing the shape of our society - Family means future

[straighteyes (deleted)]

We all are responsible for all areas of family affairs, which for a long time have not been "soft issues" any more. Families are the social centre of every society.The future of our society depends on families, depends on children.We need our children in their basic families.Objectives have to be established that support young parents during the phase of setting up a family, solidarity between generations have to be strengthened so that we all can benifit from the knowledge, experience and wisdom of elder people. We must take better care for children who are unfarely treated by fate, while the decisive course is set for their lifes. Family policy must be oriented towards the realities of lifes and towards the need of children. Young parents have the right of society support in all questions of child-raising behaviour. They have to be strengthened in these responsibilities and capability. All children have the right of best possible education. This is a challenge to each of us to work at. We need lower family poverty, lower unemployment and higher but fair economical growth. More time and space for children and elder people have to be created. Families need income to secure the basics of living, material child and elder poverty has to be reduced and financial support does not have to make them feel like the recipients of charity. Raising children means making them strong for life. Every child has a right to find its place in its society. Promoting the child-raising competence of parents means to make mothers and fathers sensitive to the strengths of their children and put them into a position to create the best possible circumstances for their developement. Children must learn the importance every society places on respect, consideration, fairness and justice. Instilling values in our children is a major duty to every society as a whole. Parents, who are not able to take care well of their children and raise them well, need our loving attention. When parents are overtaxed and fall into a spiral of isolation, violence, alcohol and drug abuse or gambling we must look for timely provision of help for these children and parents. Families, children and elders are not a private matter....they are our future. SITTING BULL once sais: " Let´s put our minds together and see what we can do for our children." Let´s start over now.

straighteyes

[(deleted)]

`I agree. It seems like the children and elders are ignored. THey are allowed to slip through the cracks in most cases. Yet we can learn a great deal from both children and elders. Children are so full of innocence, promsie, and are so ininhibited. THey can make a game out of most anything, and are truely creative. THese traits sadly are most always crushed under violence --- and body images among other things. They are made to comform to what society deems as right and normal. To divert from that in any way and a person is looked at as out of touch at the very least or crazy at worst. THe other thing is that childrren after a certain age are essentially left to their own devices, left to raise themselves in a sense. I mean it seems no one is willing to take responseability in parenting anymore. THey expect the schools and T.V. to do this for them. It is any wonder that things are the way they are? I'm hearing about more incidences of crimes both violent and nonvilonet by minors and people barely in their 20's. THey should be hanging out at the mall, going to the movies with friends, or sweating over the boy/girl they like at school. Instead they're doing 10-20, or even life in prison because in most cases the parents couldn't be bothered to raise their own children. It is unfortunate and people need to understand that they need to stop wasteing money on building new prisons of any security level and start pumping it into preventative measures. Make parenting courses manditory before and after haveing a child. THey should be offered to all people and be without cost as not all would be able to afford it otherwise. Start more activities and projects to bring families together or at least to occupy a child to keep them out of trouble. THese programs should instill in them responsiblty for their actions and foster good and honest behaviers. THey too will grow up to be parents themselves. THey will eventually have children and they will be better able to raise them and instill in them those same things they learned. One day they will be the elders and they will be dependant on the younger generations. How will they fair? Now, most elders are carted off to nurseing homes and facilities that care for those elderly that are in need of assistance. It honestly seems like as soon as an elder ceases to be able to preform some tasks whether basic or more complicated they are shipped off to the old folks home. For crying out loud!!! It is the elders who can teach everyone a thing or two about everything. WE are loseing those who were born in simpler times. Yes things were harder. THey had to work really hard. If they were on the farm they had to work even harder. SOmetimes existance was meager, and starvation could be a real possiblity. Yet even through all of that, they led richer lives. THey knew their neighbors, and helped a person whether a stranger or friend during tough times. Sadly, we are not really like this anymore. We're taught to be paranoid of everything and everyone, we help ourselves more often than we help others. What's more we've started playing god tinkering with gentics and foods. Our medicines poison us and and often make things worse rather than make things better. THey even poison our four legged, winged and finned relatives . It really is shameful what we do to ourselves and to this world. I am sure that by now people are wondering what any of this last part has to do with the original post. Think about it. It all goes hand and hand. Everything is interconnected Wether it's seen in the traditional sense of Nature. But it is also applicable to society. I mean it starts with the children, what they're taught and shown reflects who they will be, how they will act, and what they do in with and for this world. THe current systems and finger pointing aren't working. We need to work towards changing things and getting those people out of power who either don't know how to help, or are just too lazy to care. Maybe in order to acheive this we need to look both to the children and elders. My apologies if I rambled on.

[squinto (deleted)]

`I don't think more free programs are the answer.. Look at the Welfare System it does not work just breeds more people to depend on it..

[straighteyes (deleted)]

`Squinto, I have to agree. Every program has to be free and it needs people working in there that work with their heart, not because of just having a job. You will always have a difference in the result. I can see it here in Germany daily, social workers who work in social programs just for a career...and they are not successfully working with people and the people who need support and understanding can feel it. People who need support by a social program are very sensitive and feel fooled when they get the "wrong" person to work with. I am an "old style" social worker, I do not care about conceptions, I care about people..that often causes a lot of problems with authorities..but I prefer little steps working with people than looking on letters and numbers which are for calming down the conscience of a government..
straighteyes

[(deleted)]

`Straighteyes, that is how it should be. People working from the heart to help others, and not simply because they chose this carreer. THere are some like you, and my mom who genuninley want to help the people work through everything in order for them to stand on their own. THere are others who seem to be doing it to do it and make little if any difference in anyone's life.
Squinto, welfare I will agree is riddled with serious problems, amd is probably not salvagable were anyone to try and fix it. THat being said. I am not refering to a welfare type of system with the mandatory parenting classes, or programs to get families more involved with each other/activities to keep kids out of trouble. They would only be offered free so that even the poorest of the poor could go. THe people working to help them would want to do this with all their heart and soul. THey will genuinely seek to make a difference and have a positive impact on these people's and children's lives. As Straighteyes says "There will always be differences in the result" No one thing will be completely 100% fullproof, there will be no magic cure for all these problems today or even tomroow, but over time if people are persistant in this and keep fighting for these changes then changes will occur. Things will happen. THings will eventually get better. Will it be perfect, no. I'm sure there will still be crime and other issues but will it be as common as it is today? If those systems are correctly implemetnted, and you have those working within them who genuinely feel this calling in their heart, I
say no. THe main thing is that it'll take time. People need to see that. THis is a society that expects things to happen instantiniously. This can breed
trouble in situations like these. WE would need to let those things run their course. If there are flaws they should be fixed as soon as they are found not allowed to sit and permitted to potentially grow beyond control. That's part of the problem with the systems of today. It isn't just contained to this area either.

[squinto (deleted)]

`We do not need more free handouts from the Government, nothing is free and someone has to pay for all those free programs!!!
They do not work!! Look at the welfare system in this country.. Any given day go down to your local Welfare office and you will see these people with gold chains,cell phones, name brand expensive sneakers, designer clothes oh yes and the bag of chips, and soda.Also we have all the foreigners lined up to get their freebies too! Just my own opinion but I am tired of working and see my hard earned money going for these items.I work everyday and do not walk around with all this bling bling..
We are slowly turning into a socialistic country.

ALL I CAN SAY IS GOVERNMENT GET OUT OF MY MIX!!

(disclaimer) (These are my own opinions and not meant to offend anyone on the welfare system.)

[straighteyes (deleted)]

`Yes, Squinto, we do not need more programs..but we need programs that work. I can imagine that they do not work in the States, because they do not work in Germany and Germany likes to adopt all the "stuff" from the States. And personally I wish that one day we´ll be free from all this BIG Brother Sh**. And I have to agree, it ´s bitter to look at all the "bling bling" but believe me it´s much more bitter for a single mom who tries to feed her children, is working her"ass" of and still needs welfare money to be able to get along and staying still on a real low level. Well and Natives on rez...I don´t think that they think about golden chains around their neck when they have to decide during the winter time between food for their families or use the money for wood or oil to heat up the house.
straighteyes