“No Victim” Zone

Temple Christian School

“No Victim” Zone

By: Stephanie Sweat, Principal

 

Have you ever seen anything like what has been happening in our institutions of higher learning lately?  College students refused to “allow” speakers chosen by the administration to  speak at commencement.   College graduates at Notre Dame walked out of commencement exercises when  Vice-President Mike Pence spoke because they were “offended” at his political policies.  This is the height of disrespect, and the height of self-centeredness.   But it didn’t start at the college level.  It started in the home.  Parents have trained their little ones to become “victims.”  Let me explain.

Parents today try to bubble wrap their kids from any kind of emotional harm – they view any type of disappointment as a crisis.  Any type of teasing, name-calling, taunting, gestures, and being excluded from friendship groups as “bullying.”  Bullying used to mean the use of force, threats, or physical abuse perpetrated constantly in efforts to dominate or  terrorize someone else. But this new, expanded definition in modern society makes EVERY child is a victim.

In reality, allowing children to become victims over every little thing does more harm than good.  It creates hypersensitivity and an entitlement mentality.  Your children getting mildly teased or insulted at school may be mean, but it’s not a crisis.  Your child not making the team, or making the team but sitting on the bench the entire season is not a crisis.  Your child not getting a part in the play is not a crisis.   Failing a grade/class at school is not a crisis.  It’s life.

How YOU handle it makes all the difference.  After all, kids haven’t changed.  Kids are the same as they’ve always been.  It’s the parents who have changed.  Final question:  Are you training your child to be a hyper-sensitive victim, easily offended by everything?  Or are you teaching your child to become a strong soldier of  Jesus Christ?  Your call.