Mini-rant

Not much to tell about today, gentle readers. We had the day off, so I got to pass the time in beautiful West Springfield, MA. That is to say, I passed the time in my hotel room, save for leaving to get lunch. But that was fine, because I got to start a lovely book--The Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove, by Christopher Moore, author of Lamb, the Gospel According to Bif. It's a very funny book, and I'm already more than halfway through it. I'd describe it to you, but it really does defy description. But when I get back, I'll lend it to you, because you really should read it. We have our first private performance tomorrow, the first time for some of the cast to try to put this show into a school auditorium. I'm hoping it's a big one. I hate the ones that are barely big enough to fit a set of concert risers. Wish us luck....

One of the other articles I read about which made me smack my head like a V-8 commercial from the 70's dealt with a city considering banning children from the library. Why? Because there is an ordinance banning children from public areas which contain lead. Apparently printer's ink, especially in older books, carries traces of lead, and they are worried that they may have to ban children from the library until they can test all of the books to see just how big a problem this might be. Or just get rid of all the books. Really? Is this really such an issue? Such a danger? I find it hard to believe that the ink in kid's books could accumulate to such a level that it could harm these children. I mean, I guess if the kid likes to suck on his fingers before he turns the pages, or smears the book all over unprotected skin or an open wound there might be some basis to the fear, but just sitting there reading a book is, I think, unlikely to flood your bloodstream with toxins.

Now look, I understand wanting to protect your kids. I think that's a good thing. I think that removing things like asbestos from school ductwork is something that should be done. I think teaching your kid to look both ways before crossing the street and not to wear black at night when walking along the side of the road is wise. But you can't protect your kid from everything, nor should you. Your child should be able to get on his bike without having to have a squire assist him in putting on his armor. He should be able to hang out with his friends on a Saturday afternoon without his parents tracking his every move via GPS. And he should be able to walk into a library without a Haz-Mat suit. There are enough things for government, be it city, state or federal, to deal with without having to debate whether Johnny needs a chemical shower in order to touch Where the Wild Things Are. As a person who spent most of his childhood in libraries among books that probably had not been dipped in antiseptic, it's not going to hurt you. Do we as a society want to take steps which will make it LESS likely that our children will ever want to crack open a book? Literacy is becoming a quaint old notion, like rumble seats, soda fountains, and habeus corpus. Can we please not do anything to push our kids further into the arms of media which requires little to no brain involvement? 

Aside from that, we are raising a generation of children who are being taught to fear everything. If you try to isolate kids from every single thing that could possibly hurt them, you isolate them from life. And people who are isolated from life are just the type of people to walk into a school and shoot everyone, because you can't deal with something you've spent your whole life being isolated from. And children who have never been allowed to know hurt, to know what it's like to fall down and bust something don't know how to deal with pain, be it physical or emotional. If you are never allowed to make mistakes (because you're being protected from them) then when you do finally fail (and you will) you won't be able to deal with it. (See walking into a school and shooting everyone statement above) Remember, people, if your children are never allowed to fail, then they will never succeed, because they will never risk. You can't do anything great, or even noteworthy, if you're not willing to take a risk. So let your children risk. They'll be better people for it, and you'll be better parents. I know it's scary, but you can take baby steps. Let 'em go to the library and touch a book.