I'm prolly over reacting, but this bugs me.

[Wildcard Ky]

I just got back from my second graders schools christmas show.

The show is comprised of first and second graders. The theme to their play was that a giant asteroid was heading for the North Pole, and if they didn't find a way to stop it, the North Pole would be destroyed and no one would have a christmas.

It went about as one would expect a show full of first and second graders would go. Very cheesy and lighthearted. But the underlying message bothered me.

I don't want my second grader thinking about asteroids slamming into the earth. I want her to just be a kid and think about happy things, not Armageddon.

She asked me the other day what would happen if an asteroid did hit the earth. I tried to water down the devastation. She thought about it for a few seconds then said "I guess it would be a whole lot worse than when those guys flew those planes into those buildings."

She's 8 years old. I don't want things like asteroids and 9-11 in her thoughts. She'll have plenty of time to worry about such realities when she gets older. I want her biggest worry in life to be the wrath of Dad if she doesn't clean her room. Any troubles bigger than that should be saved for a later time in life.

Kids grow up so fast. I don't want that process helped along. I want her to be a little girl for as long as possible.

Am I over reacting?

 

[entitled]

Um... no.

My oldest is nearly seven, and i'm glad that his biggest fear is Momma getting out the belt. It makes my life easier.

Besides, it means he's not growing up too fast. It means he can enjoy being a kid. Life is good.

 

[Halo_n_horns]

I'm betting that it was the kids that came up with the idea for the subject matter. Don't sweat it too much. No matter what, they're still kids and recess is still the best part of school.

 

[Guest]

It depends on the child, honestly, but it sounds as if you handled things well. If she doesn't appear overly worried, if your explanation made sense to her and eased her mind, I imagine she's fine.

I'll bet she enjoyed her show - they saved the North Pole, didn't they? Good for them.

 

[hugo_sam]

I just got back from my second graders schools christmas show.

The show is comprised of first and second graders. The theme to their play was that a giant asteroid was heading for the North Pole, and if they didn't find a way to stop it, the North Pole would be destroyed and no one would have a christmas.

It went about as one would expect a show full of first and second graders would go. Very cheesy and lighthearted. But the underlying message bothered me.

I don't want my second grader thinking about asteroids slamming into the earth. I want her to just be a kid and think about happy things, not Armageddon.

She asked me the other day what would happen if an asteroid did hit the earth. I tried to water down the devastation. She thought about it for a few seconds then said "I guess it would be a whole lot worse than when those guys flew those planes into those buildings."

She's 8 years old. I don't want things like asteroids and 9-11 in her thoughts. She'll have plenty of time to worry about such realities when she gets older. I want her biggest worry in life to be the wrath of Dad if she doesn't clean her room. Any troubles bigger than that should be saved for a later time in life.

Kids grow up so fast. I don't want that process helped along. I want her to be a little girl for as long as possible.

Am I over reacting?

IMHO - Wildcard, I think it is something to pay attention to and follow closely.

I had a smililar experience with a 'church' Christmas program for kids that my son participated in. I went to support him(much as you go to school programs) I was appalled at the subject and tone of the 'Childrens Christmas' I have never heard such negative, fatalistic 'material' in my life. Not the 'nativity' or any of the other 'traditional' kids Christmas stories, but stuff that would make most 'fire and brimstone' 'Southern Baptist' preachers flinch. Needless to say my son never returned to that 'church'.

Since it is school and slightly more secularly oriiented, you are probably much safer, but it would certainly bare watching.
Again IMHO - Hugo

 

[sophia jane]

It is a little worrisome. Kids don't need to have such big worries. But at the same time, some of that kind of thing really does come from their imaginations (which can be very very creative in kinds of destruction).

 

[logophile]

I'm with you on this one WildCard...
Not surprisingly. We seem to agree on most kid-rearing stuff.

And, I'll go one step further -
If the children did help with ideas I think someone should have steered the conversation in a different direction.

 

[Guest]

It does depend on your child.

Our kids are worriers. About everything. It took a great deal of time to convince them that we were safe from: hurricanes (we live in Kansas and away from the coast) monsoons (we live in Kansas in the U.S. and away from the coast) earthquakes (we live in Kansas and far from a plate boundary) volcanoes (we live in Kansas where the crust is THICK) and finally tornadoes. THOSE we couldn't explain away, but we've been through countless explanations and drills and everyone has their own flashlight, there is a plan for the pets, yada yada.

But they'll ask and that gives us the chance to ease their mind. And they don't need huge explanations, just something that makes sense.

My daughter went to church summer camp several years ago and the guest minister told them Harry Potter was bad. Once she told us what had happened we were able to tell her the man was mistaken. Then we had her talk to our minister too, so she got more than one person's take on it. Problem solved.

Good luck, Wildcard. It sounds like you're doing right by your kid.

 

[BlackShanglan]

*shrug* I understand the desire to preserve that charming and sweet innocence of the little ones. On the other hand, why not have them encounter a little nervousness now, while it's of the tame school Christmas pageant variety? Surely it's a gentle enough introduction to the fact that life will hold sorrow for us. I don't mean this nastily - I think your stand in favor a real childhood noble and on the whole right - but the longer she remains wholly and completely a little girl, the harshed and more abrupt the eventual break will be. I think adulthood might be better approached as a long, slow, gentle slope than a sudden cliff.

Perhaps I'm skewed. I just saw "The Chronicles of Narnia" this weekend and was pleased that they were true to Lewis' frightening and grim vision of Aslan's death. His return could have no power if his loss did not horrify us. But if it's any consolation, at least most parents and teachers are no longer reading the version of "Cinderella" where the stepsisters cut off parts of their feet to try to get the slipper on and the wicked stepmother is forced to dance to death in red-hot iron shoes.

Those Germans. Such kidders.

 

[Belegon]

Perhaps I'm skewed. I just saw "The Chronicles of Narnia" this weekend and was pleased that they were true to Lewis' frightening and grim vision of Aslan's death. His return could have no power if his loss did not horrify us.

I agree here. I have no wish for my children to view horrors, but I also don't think it is horrible that my children understood that Aslan was dead, or that my children know that death is real and that the world carries some risk. I would not want him to watch a slasher flick, but it does not hurt that he can understand (to a point) the sacrifice Boromir is making to save Merry & Pippin...

 

[Belegon]

Perhaps I'm skewed. I just saw "The Chronicles of Narnia" this weekend and was pleased that they were true to Lewis' frightening and grim vision of Aslan's death. His return could have no power if his loss did not horrify us.

I agree here. I have no wish for my children to view horrors, but I also don't think it is horrible that my children understood that Aslan was dead, or that my children know that death is real and that the world carries some risk. I would not want them to watch a slasher flick, but it does not hurt that they can understand (to a point) the sacrifice Boromir is making to save Merry & Pippin or why firefighters, police officers and soldiers are brave to do the jobs they do...

 

[JRaven]

Yet I think you may have missed another lesson.

(Sorry, I woke up at 3am and haven't been able to get back to sleep)

A big asteroid was going to obliterate the North Pole. The children saved the North Pole and saved Christmas.

Through action, the children were able to change their world for the better. They have to power to do so. Later on in life, they WILL be the ones with the power to change the world.

Jenny

 

[Guest]

first of all... THANK YOU for spelling probably ...'prolly'... i do this all the time and have considered it a vellaism...*smiles huge*

secondly...
when i was a kid (back in the stone age) there was a demonstration outside the local naval base. a man walked around with a sign that said "The End is Near"...holy shit! when? so, being the paranoid person/kid i was...i wouldnt sleep. if the end is near, fuck sleep, i wanna be awake. eventually, this paranoia wore off but then there was another protest and another sign...which i dont remember the exact words but something to the effect of "The world will end at midnight." i took to sleeping under my parents bed...if caught, under my sister's bed.

hell, i did have a point. what im trying to say is...i get it. no, i wouldnt want that msg to be ingrained in my kid. yes, we learn that life is precarious at too young of an age. i dont know how i would feel if my kiddos were involved in a play such as this...if i would even catch that nuance but im glad you did... glad that youre sensitive enough to discuss your daughters concerns with her.
kudos.

v~