As a child, I was scared of the dark, scared of water and
scared of heights. To calm my fears, Mother checked my closet and under the bed
for the boogie man before she turned off the light at night. She forced me to
take swimming lessons to overcome my trouble with water. I finally beat my fear
of heights on a high ropes course as an adult.
Today’s children have much more to fear than I did. The
evening news incites absolute terror in their hearts; stories of Ebola, ISSIS
and violence on the streets. It takes more than checking for the boogie man to
give our children a sense of security when threats like these fill their minds
with fear. We need to replace the stories that create fear with stories that
inspire courage. We need to share stories of those who used fear to energize
them rather than paralyze them.
Children need to hear stories of those in our country’s
history who overcame terrible situations that should have defeated them but
instead made them stronger.
Stories of those who protect America day in and day out from
the terrors they hear about. They need to know that heroes are born in the face
of danger. The story of Todd Beamer who gave us the battle cry, “Let’s Roll,”
when he and other passengers overcame terrorists on United Airlines Flight 93
on 9/11.
No comments:
Post a Comment