Let’s Be Careful...
The article about the ‘protest toddlers’ in Berkeley has shown up all over the place. It is quite revolting - though good for a few laughs, too, especially if you look at the pictures. They still believe in the Tooth Fairy and Santa Claus. They don’t know how to spell their last names or tie their own shoes. But they do know that “war is bad,” and that “Bush is a bully.”

Seeing this reminds me of my sister being confronted by her daughter’s declaration that Al Gore is a ‘baby killer,’ according to new school friends. As much as I despise the Democratic Party’s anti-life policies, I am likewise put off the reduction of a complex issue to a simple catch-phrase. Children do need to be taught about right and wrong, good and evil. But this must be done in an age appropriate manner. If the best pro-life education you can give your children is that ‘Al Gore is a baby killer,’ perhaps the kids aren’t ready to discuss it at all. Or to discuss specific individuals. Because you and I can understand Mr. Gore’s complicity in the death of thousands of unborn Americans doesn’t mean that it is a concept to be grasped by the first-grade mind. Setting the children up with a construct that is so easily refuted in the young mind (Al Gore kills babies? Well, only if he bores them to death....) may plant seeds of doubt about any future instruction in this area.

Oh........and maybe I’m put off by the child holding the poster with the peace signs and “Why Fight? - We Don’t.” So...........should we go to war because my boys could come up with a sign that says, “Let’s duke it out.........we do.........at least once an hour?”