Preservation of Innocence

I was talking to a friend about the post at Mad Genius Club which I wrote in protest over being bullied into not parenting my children by gently steering them away from books I felt were inappropriate to their ages. She pointed out that I am arguing for innocence. It's something we have far too little of, in this media-rich world, where almost from infancy children are exposed to television, videos, and yes, even books, that were never meant for a child's eyes. In response, rather than attempting to allow our children the privilege of a little innocence, instead the reaction was to say "They will see it anyway, so why try to stop it?"

Why not, indeed? Perhaps because as a culture we now embrace pop stars who writhe all but naked on the stage, books that advocate ephebephilia and incest, but reject values, morals, and chivalry? I am not a perfect person, but I do believe that there should be personal responsibility in this world, a duty to protect the children, and the honor to stand up to bullies in any form or age.

I love my kids. I'm not going to let them grow up stripped of innocence, following their feelings blindly, and unable to think. That means I'm going to say no to them from time to time, and do things they don't want me to, because I'm the adult, and it's my job.

I want my kids to be able to read voraciously, and to be able to trust what they bring home from the children's section of the library.