Juice Boxes and Nap Times

When you are little, you think you have the world figured out,

or at least that’s what I thought. Everything is so simple when all you

have to worry about are juice boxes and nap times.

The world is so bright and colorful. Nothing bad ever happens.

However, that couldn’t be more wrong. The world is much more

complex than adults let us think.

Bad things do happen. It doesn’t matter if you’re a good or bad person,

you will experience obstacles. The world is full of bad people.

Today, it is only getting worse. What can we do to fix it?

We can start with telling the truth.

We can’t try to pretend that bad things do not happen.

Bullying, racism, sexism, homophobia, murder, and so many other terrible

things do exist, but we cannot just ban everything that may “offend” someone. We cannot just turn the channel

when the news comes on. We cannot just close the blinds when a fight breaks out. We cannot just turn the lights out and leave when a fire starts.

We have to face it head on or it will still be there.

Banning something because it’s offensive is just ignoring it; that’s letting hate win.

I was taught to stand up for what I believe in, not erase it or try to send it off.

I know many others have been taught the same way or they have

learned it for themselves. One voice may not be able to change the world

completely but it is enough to start something.

It is enough to draw attention to something. Bad things are not just

happening and escalating because people are getting “offended”

or because there are just “bad people” out there.

Bad things are happening because we are allowing them to by running

from them and not facing them head on.

Think about the times all you had to worry about are juice boxes and

nap times. They were so much simpler, right?

Now, the children do not have the childhood.

Yes, times are changing, but why take away the things YOU

loved doing as a child. Many of you grew up watching and

listening to the things you have now “banned.”

Many of you have taken away the meanings of

childhood and other things. Children cannot be sheltered from the

things that the world has no matter what we do.

Without the bad and the lessons we learn,

what would be the point of the good and feeling after facing the obstacle?