Robbed of Innocence

When I was in elementary school we used to bring decorated shoeboxes with holes cut in the top to class on Valentine’s Day. Those shoeboxes became mailboxes into which classmates deposited Valentine’s Day cards. We gave cards to all our classmates and received cards from all our classmates.

It was a day to express innocent affection and kindness.

With crass sexuality and violence permeating our society, with the violation and degradation of childhood innocence – the simple joys of kindness and affection have been robbed from our children. We have done this – we can mouth platitudes all we want, but the truth is that we have sacrificed our children on the altars of our own egos and materialism and wanton disregard for morality, ethics, and truth. We are selling our children for the sake of the economy and so that we don’t have to be ostracized for not going against the grain.

We are cowards for not owning up to this. We are cowards for not saying, “Enough. Stop this. Even if it means a diminished materialistic standard of living, stop it. I would rather have less materially so that my children may have more morally.”

We are collectively guilty of child abuse.