Ageism

Alistair · Post by **Alistair** » Sat Jun 23, 2007 8:54 am

It is much to my disgust that children are treated poorly by humankind.
I am sick and tired of the injustice faced by children.
Generally, this includes:

*Children being labelled as inferior
*Children considered the property of parents
*Children constantly being lied to and told half-truths

As to the first point, is it not so blatently obvious that children are considered inferior to adults?
We are considered naive because we supposedly live in a land of fantasy.
But is that not what all humans are?
Humans aspire, they dream, they hope, they lust for their goals.
Any adult who considers it naive to dream has just been stomped on by other adults and had their dreams crushed.
Unable to recreate their love for what they lost, they proceed to 'grow up' and loathe the dreams of others.
No, a child is not naive.
A child accepts our nature of dreaming for what we what.
Adults are children who have had their dreams shattered and despise others because they can not bring them back.

When it comes to parents, they tell us, "you live under our roof, you'll do as we tell you".
"You will do as I say".
"You are MINE".
"You are nothing but a slave".
If parents didn't want children to choose their own paths, then they shouldn't have had children.
It is not the child's fault they exist.
Sure, it's nice when a child cleans up after themself or helps with the dishes and general cleaning, but it is ridiculous to say "You live under my roof, so you'll do all the chores I give you".
Treat your children right and they may just help you with tasks by their own volition.
THERE is the thrill of having children.
When a child helps without being told to, THAT is a joy of being a parent.
THAT is how you know you have raised a good child.
But if you order them around, they are no better than slaves who will hate their masters.
Would you order your best-friend to wash the dishes, clean your car, and scrub the toilet?
NO, so why should it be any different with children?

Now, to the next point.
Children are constantly lied to and told half-truths.
This is disgusting.
I hate this so much.
It is constantly happening and is a great injustice to children of any age.

One more point I would like to make is of the continuous propaganda via the media aimed at children.
Yes, that's right 'P-R-O-P-A-G-A-N-D-A'.
Many television shows and other forms of entertainment paint unrealistic pictures of the world for children (An intricate form of lying), and most of these also attempt to brainwash children.
What am I talking about?
I'm talking about shows that have a powerful sustained moral that is constantly fed to the child.
Ever noticed how most children's shows are not purely entertainment?
Hardly any children's show is entirely entertainment.
They carry hidden subliminal messages such as "It's okay to be different", "Don't aim for improvement, just be yourself", "Obey your parents", "Eat many servings of fruit and vegetables a day", "Exercise daily", "Love everyone", "Share and give", etc.
This is a way of saying "Children are stupid, we must carve them in our image of perfection".
It changes drastically from mere annoying preaching of values to propaganda in schools, where children are taught how to act, rather than simply being taught knowledge.
Yes, that's right.
Taught how to act, you know it's true.
Examples include:

*Children being taught to accept all races
*Children being taught to accept all religions
*Children being taught to accept equality among the sexes
*Children being taught to consider war a disgusting thing
*Etc

I believe in equality among sexes, races, and religions, but it is my decision.
Other people have no right to force their beliefs onto children or anyone else for that matter.
Children deserve the right to pen their own destiny just as much as anyone else.

------------------------------------------------------------

What are your opinions?
Have I moved any of you?
I would like to here what anyone has to say about this.

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Clueless · Post by **Clueless** » Sat Jun 23, 2007 4:24 pm

children arent considered slaves to their parents. thats a crazy idea. maybe in some houses its like that but most consider children as a blessing. they dont make them do chores just cuz they want to treat them like slaves. children need to learn responsibility and how to clean up around the house. these are things they will need to know when they get old enough to leave the house. parents have children do these things to teach them, cuz how else are they going to learn? they're just kids.

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Alistair · Post by **Alistair** » Sat Jun 23, 2007 10:05 pm

Clueless wrote: children arent considered slaves to their parents. thats a crazy idea. maybe in some houses its like that but most consider children as a blessing. they dont make them do chores just cuz they want to treat them like slaves. children need to learn responsibility and how to clean up around the house. these are things they will need to know when they get old enough to leave the house. parents have children do these things to teach them, cuz how else are they going to learn? they're just kids.

Hmmm...'kay, fine, good response.
Anyone else?

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Red Squirrel · Post by **Red Squirrel** » Sat Jun 23, 2007 10:18 pm

I do agree with your points though, while yes, kids should be tought all that stuff, some parents go way too far. A simple example, lets say there's visit over and the mom is cutting cake and it breaks all over and stuff, who gets it? the kid, lol.

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Clueless · Post by **Clueless** » Sat Jun 23, 2007 10:50 pm

oh come on. broken cake? thats not that bad. it tastes the same. thats not going too far, the mothers just trying to be a good host and shes not just gonna throw the cake away cuz it crumbled.

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Red Squirrel · Post by **Red Squirrel** » Sat Jun 23, 2007 11:06 pm

Yeah was probably not the best example. But basically anything that's "inferior" for w/e reason goes straight to the kids normally. I've never experienced any of this myself, that I can remember though. I've just heard of lot of stuff like that, or seen it at other people's houses. But yeah in general, younger kids are usually treated inferior in various ways, whether its something silly like badly formatted food, to giving very dirty tasks.

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Alistair · Post by **Alistair** » Sun Jun 24, 2007 1:14 am

I once went to a party at my aunty's house.
She invited my entire family.
Yet, it just so happens that there wasn't enough seats at the table for everyone.
Two people wouldn't be able to sit at the table.
Guess who wasn't allowed?
Myself and my brother.
We were made to sit on the floor in her living room.
If there wasn't enough seats at her table then she shouldn't have invited us, or she could have sat HERSELF on the floor, it's not like she's any better than us.
Her OWN children got to sit at the table.
Even people she didn't like much were allowed.

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Stasi · Post by **Stasi** » Sun Jun 24, 2007 9:51 am

Children aren't raised in a vacuum. In a world of conflicting ideas, values, jerks, and so on, parents must do what they can to teach the child right from wrong, both in terms of ethics or morals and how to think critically about those they look up to. The notion that children can essentially raise themselves is ridiculous. How intensely involved a parent should be in their child's upbringing will vary from child to child. Some kids need lots of direction, others don't. But without the guiding hand, loving heart, and principles to live by that a parent can give their child, they'll become lost and look for such a parental figure in others, often those who end up manipulating and exploiting them.

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Bookworm · Post by **Bookworm** » Sun Jun 24, 2007 11:15 pm

I believe I have read that children's brains aren't even fully developed until they are well into their teens. They do not have the same capacity for impulse control as what adults have, for instance.

Sure, it's nice when a child cleans up after themself or helps with the dishes and general cleaning, but it is ridiculous to say "You live under my roof, so you'll do all the chores I give you".
Treat your children right and they may just help you with tasks by their own volition.
THERE is the thrill of having children.
When a child helps without being told to, THAT is a joy of being a parent.
THAT is how you know you have raised a good child.
But if you order them around, they are no better than slaves who will hate their masters.
Would you order your best-friend to wash the dishes, clean your car, and scrub the toilet?
NO, so why should it be any different with children?

If my best friend came over to my house everyday and ate off my plates and just left them on the table for me to clean up, that wouldn't be very friendly, now would it? If they scattered their books and papers in the car and left them for me to clean up, that wouldn't be very friendly, would it? A friend would probably take care of those things without even being asked, but only if they had learned responsibility and good manners in their own home when they were growing up. Children simply do not have an adult's knowledge of proper manners and it would be insulting to them to simply assume that they do, and to expect them to act like miniature adults. It is not just "nice" when a child cleans up after themselves, it is essential to their well-being and to their future friendships. Such things must be taught and then insisted upon until they become habitual in the child's life. Hey, it is practically child abuse to NOT order the child to do certain things in life.

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robonightmare · Post by **robonightmare** » Tue Oct 23, 2007 10:01 pm

Alistair, how old are you? do you think you are actually mature enough to make those kinds of accusations?

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flowergirlajg · Post by **flowergirlajg** » Wed Nov 07, 2007 4:49 pm

hehehehe, look hoos talking

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Hermy11 · Post by **Hermy11** » Thu Feb 07, 2008 3:36 pm

Alistair wrote: It is much to my disgust that children are treated poorly by humankind.
I am sick and tired of the injustice faced by children.
Generally, this includes:

*Children being labelled as inferior
*Children considered the property of parents
*Children constantly being lied to and told half-truths

I stopped reading there.

Considering your parents are basically giving you an environment to live in, food, water, love, and the basic needs of the human race, it's less than half sufficient to consider yourself their property until you're 18. I live on a farm, so yeah, that means work. When I was 8 I had to pick up stones and put them in a bucket, and haul the bucket over to the tractor bucket after the bucket I had was full of rocks. I once did that for 6 hours straight when I was 8. It was tough, but I owed my parents, and I'll do the work even if it's a completely nuisance.

As for being inferior, well, children are. A grown man lifts 250 pounds, let's say. A young child lifts what, 20 pounds? I know inferior is simply referring to the quality comparison of a equivalent things, but this is regarding the human race, not two 4 year olds in a wits competition.

You want to know why you were lied to as a kid? For your own good. Santa and the Easter Bunny are for your own good. I remember I had a hamster that died, my parents told me it went to live in a town full of hamsters, which no one knows the location of. My parents lied to me because as a young child, I wouldn't be able to comprehend death, and no one wants a child to cry.

Yeah, kids are treated like crap in other places too. You always hear stories of kids being beaten, raped, and harassed. Damn, even in Iraq 14-month old babies have been killed by getting anally raped (Pictures included, I saw). The fact of the matter is that humans are filthy, wicked and cruel. crap happens, lots of crap. I mean assuming you're here, on the internet and you posted this topic, I'd say you lead a decent life. Sounds like your parents provide. Not the case for others, be happy for what you've got, because being treated like crap has always been in modern society, get used to it.

EDIT: Just decided to read the rest of it.

Not many parents blatantly say, "You are my slave," although, I'm sure some do, that's not the case in the common American family.

Children living in a fantasy? What to know why people say that? Because it's true. I don't mean to bash on anime, but I know a few kids that watch anime and are always pretending they're something else. Know what a furry is? Know what an otherkin is? A furry is a common human being depicted as a fox for example, and most of the time furry drawings include sexual activity. Sounds like fantasy land to me. I remember when I was a kid, I would pick up sticks and swing them around, pretending I was a great warrior. Yeah, I did play in my own fantasy land quite a bit. Anyways, an otherkin is an individual who actually thinks that is present time, or a past life they were something else. And no, I'm not talking about reincarnation to any who may believe in reincarnation. There's a girl that goes to my school, who thinks she's a dragon, and that she has a pet dragon. She also thinks there's invisible dragons that she can talk to. She is living an insane fantasy.

You know what? I'll hand you another story. I know someone, that I don't talk to anymore whom for a long time, lied to me and told me they were a girl (It was at a time when I was stupid), I believed them. Things went on merrily but I ended up catching on to some bits, "her" picture showed "her" wearing eyeliner, yet "she" said "she" didn't wear any makeup. I even called her once, "she" said that "her" brother was doing the talking for "her" because "she" was shy. That was a little suspicious, regardless "she" hadn't lied to me yet so I really had no reason to not believe "her". And then about 3 months in I just confronted "her" about it. Turns out "she" was a guy, and it all came out. These words came directly from his mouth, "I'm a woman in a man's body." I figured, either this person has choked on too much estrogen hidden in foods, or this is one morbid fantasy. I don't exactly know if it's a fantasy, because frankly it was so hard to tell, because this person wanted to be a woman so bad, that they actually believed it themselves.

You know when you were 13 or so and you had that dream of you porking that one person you thought was so attractive, but deep down you knew it would never happen? Heck, it didn't even have to be a dream, you could be thinking about that in class or something. Adults to that, and children are no different.

Welcome to humanity. We create dreams and fantasies all the time, and children are no different.

I know I didn't cover all of the points, but I just didn't feel like typing any more.

[s]Gaahhh long post[/s]

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