The Value of Innocence
Remember the days when girls would cover their faces and turn red (even if you couldn’t tell) when someone let a curse word slip or got a glimpse of a love scene in an R-rated movie? I’ve noticed over the years that those moments seem to be happening less and less. The situations themselves haven’t changed, but our girls reactions sure have. My pastor preached a sermon about this very topic today and it made me think: have we lost the value of innocence?
When our children are first born we revel in their innocence. We admire the fact that they are pure. They have not the opportunity to be tainted by the world around them because they live inside the safe bubble of protection that we provide. But what happens when we start to let go? At age four we send off to preschool. Then, at age 5 we dress them up, pack their lunches, and send them off to kindergarten. Private or public, they enter a place where we don’t know the beliefs, upbringing and character of the people that will be spending up to 6.5 hours a day with our precious gift from God. Most educators in the world are caring people that love children (I’m one of them), but my point is, we don’t control the some of the biggest influences in our girls’ lives. They are surrounded by other people on a daily basis that say and do things that we may not subscribe to. Whether it be at school, in the grocery store, at the mall, or on the ball field, our girls are bombarded with words and images that chip away at their innocence.
This is happening because the world has normalized EVERYTHING! Profanity used to be reserved for cable TV, R-rated movies and adult conversations. Now our girls hear it on non-cable TV shows, PG rated movies, and even in commercials. How can it be okay for a cartoon character to say the “d” word? They come across it in the newspaper, in magazines and don’t get me started on the music! And it’s not just rap and hip-hop, now a days the only way to guarantee you won’t hear a curse word on the radio is to tune into a gospel station, Cirrus, or Pandora (if you pick the right station). Nudity, sex, drunkenness, adultery, homosexuality – it’s all been normalized. Just take a look at the top rated TV shows targeted toward women. I won’t name them because I refuse to give them the publicity, but you know what they are. They focus on adultery, deception, revenge, fornication and the idea that as long as I’m happy, all is right with the world. The world has tricked us into accepting these behaviors as okay. Let’s be sure to remind our girls that they MOST CERTAINLY ARE NOT!
Let’s return to the old school and give our girls a little less choice. Let’s surround them with images of women that are positive and pure. Let’s remind them that they are not adults and therefore cannot (and will not) be exposed to certain things. Say no to the music, TV shows, movies, books and people that promote scantily dressed women, cheating girlfriends/spouses, pre-marital sex, homosexuality, profanity, and violence. Our girls are still developing and refining who they are. They don’t need any extra pieces that weren’t intended to be in the puzzle. Take control over the pieces that your young queen puts into her puzzle.
This article was featured in the 2nd March 2014 Issue.
