Getting home and taking off his shoes
He settles down with the evening news
While the kids do homework with the TV
In one ear
While Superman for the thousandth time
Sells sexy dolls and conquers crime
They dutifully learn the date of
Birth of Paul Revere
In the paper there's a piece about the
Mayor's middle name
And he gets it read in time to watch
The All-Star bingo game
Garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage
Garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage
We're filling up our minds with
Garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage
Garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage
Garbage, garbage, GARBAGE!
What will we do when there's
Nothing left to hear
To read
To wear
To need
To talk about
To walk upon
To care about
To do
To see
To be
But garbage?
Keep in mind this song was written around 1980. The media has gotten much worse in the past 27 years! Just think of all the press devoted to "celebutantes" like Paris Hilton, Nicole Richie, Ally Hilfiger, Kimberly Stewart, etc. who became famous for being heiresses not for any talents of their own. Plus all the starlets whose partying far overshadows their actual dramatic achievements: Anna Nicole Smith, Britney Spears, Lindsay Lohan, Jessica Simpson, etc. These are the role models for the current generation of young women?????
I hope that homeschooling will allow us to counteract the climate of consumerism, sexualization of young girls, and anti-intellectualism so prevalent in modern society. I'd like my DD to look up to true role models such as Blessed Mother Theresa, St. Therese of Lisieux, St. Jeanne D'Arc, St. Catherine of Sienna, St. Clare of Assisi, St. Theresa of Avila, and of course the Holy Mother.
1 comment:
It definitely will. I have three children, 11yog, 7yog, 1yob. Homeschooling has definitely allowed us to shelter their spirits and minds as well their bodies. It doesn't mean that they haven't been exposed to those things, because they certainly have, via friends and extended family. It does mean that the level of exposure has been kept, shall we say, below toxic levels?
You do have to combine the shelter of homeschooling with other things to be successful at this though (IMO). For example, you have to provide a strong counterculture so there won't be a void. And you need to minimize exposure in other areas besides school, which in my experience many homeschoolers do; in our home, we only use TV for the occasional sporting event or movie, and the only time my kids see the inside of a mall is when they need a pair of shoes. My 11yo is matured to the point where her sense of self is strong against the mainstream; of course, that doesn't mean I'm going to ease my watchfulness as the turbulent adolescent years approach. Still, it's beautiful to see her as a strong pre-woman; she is as 11yos used to be, and not as the premature adults that so many are today.
Some we know would claim that we are isolating them from "the real world" - but I say that I do not have them in a medical bubble or a technology clean room, I have them in a shelter, a home, with plenty of windows and doors.
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