"The songs are stupid."

Why is it that children lose that wonderful enthusiasm for the opportunity to learn that seems to be a part of their nature?

One winter day in 2005, I agreed to help teach a group of first grade autistic children in a school near my home town. I asked the children to put away their activities and get ready to go to the gym.

They were going to sing the songs they had been practicing with their regular classroom teachers; it was the day of their annual Christmas program. There was one little boy was lagging a little behind his classmates so I urged him to catch up.

"We are singing stupid songs." he said, with a shrug and a friendly smile.

I was somewhat surprised at his answer, so I explained to him that Christmas songs are usually the best songs he would ever learn in school. Little did I know why he made the comment!

He shrugged as he made his way to the gym. As is typical with such programs, the youngest grades went first and the kindergarteners were most enthusiastic, with their songs about snowmen and Christmas trees.

The first grade teachers brought their students up and they sang from a "Silly Songs" collection, things like "All I want for Christmas is a Hippopotamus" and "Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer."

It was the same theme carried on by the Second grade. But unlike the first graders before them, they seemed a little less enthusiastic. However, they still gladly put forth the effort to shout out the words their teachers taught them.

The third grade seemed to be a little disinterested and the fourth grade seemed downright bored. But most of them somehow hacked out the words.

The fifth grade seemed not only bored but apathetic, but somehow plowed through "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus" and other similar selections.

At this point I was feeling a little heartburn at witnessing such a snapshot of why public school children often seem to learn to hate music.

Then a Christmas rap song was played on a boom box after the sixth grade took the stage and although chanting the words barely held their attention, most of the school seemed quite pleased with this grade's performance more than any other.

I wondered whatever happened to that zestful, joyous approach to learning that little children have when they first begin school! Why was it "necessary" that we "accept" the loss of children's excitement to learn! It occurred to me that even some of the educational priorities of the schools of our childhood were almost extinct!

The teachers and principal had ear to ear grins as they exchanged congratulations on how well they had done with their Christmas program. They had thoroughly demonstrated the step by step process by which schools can drum out the natural love of learning and beautiful music right out of the children!

The children in that school naturally put forth the expected effort to meet the expectations of the staff. But I was not a regular teacher in that school, so I bit my tongue.

I yearned for a chance to work with all of these children to show them that singing and music - learning in general - does not have to be this ugly depressing thing! There are so many things they would love about music and creating beautiful sounds while developing critical thinking skills!

And while I did not share my opinions with the kids about what I had witnessed, by the end of the day I did find a excuse to find and talk to the young boy that thought the songs were stupid.

I told him that in working with him over the course of the day, he had taught me a lot about what a smart young man he was.

The Era of Disposable Parents?

Not only do children get negative messages from society in general, more specifically we are becoming a society that ostensibly errs on the side of children under the catch phrase "Do It For the Children." Parents not only have to live in fear of child designed propaganda from mediums designed for kids, they also have to worried about over zealous social workers finding any excuse to take their children away, whether or not they have done something that qualifies as abuse.

Parents may find their only choice is to educate their children about the potential pirfalls of foster care and the so-called child protective services agencies. As society becomes more accepting of the notion that the state is more qualified to raise children than their own parents, parental rights to their own children seem more and more to be disappearing. There are steps beyond the propagandist's agendas to pressure parents to "adapt" to modern society. On example where parents feel pressured is by tolerating their children watching trashy movies to innoculate for "the real world." Parents should instead be focusing on giving their children "real world" information that is actually useful.

One father I interviewed told me he noticed his son's teenage friends were increasingly calling the social service agency to get back at their parents for minor issues such as not allowing them to stay out late. He said he simply had "the talk" with his son, that "if you were to ever call them and have them take you away from me, you will be stuck with whatever happens from that point on, because I will NOT make an effort to fight to get you back." It is a sad commentary on our society that such a strategy is the parents best defense, but only by alerting children to the evil designs of government authority gone awry can we best give them the normal chance to grow to adulthood.

Because there are in fact real cases of tragic abuse to children by their parents, all of society is paying the price of being under the cloud of suspicion, in spite of various factors contributing to what is and is not considered to be good parenting.

Even certain law enforcement authorities operate on the premise that minor injuries to children may be the result of parental violence before considering the possibility it was a simple accident. On more than one occasion I have witnessed general groups of children in public schools being solicited to turn their parents in for alleged child abuse, even if it only involves the tone of voice or facial expression of parents.

School personnel in many public schools are now being threatened that they will be held legally liable for any suspicion of possible child abuse which they do not report to authorities. Rather than leading to a decrease in actual child abuse, this is causing a clouded perception upon the very perception of what child abuse is.

There are countless horror stories across the nation of children being torn from loving and stable non-abusive homes and placed in abusive foster care situations, based on an unproven allegation of abuse. It is for this reason that parents should not hold back in teaching their children about the full range of propagandist forces designed to break up families and the threats from state agencies to remove children from even non-abusive situations into possibly dangerous or abusive foster care situations.

Children have a keen sense of fairness and justice at a very young age. It is imperative that parents teach their children critical thinking skills on what is and is not child abuse, to not fall into the trap at the first sign of discord to falsely allege child abuse against their family. be able to discern the threats government agencies can pose to normal and stable families.

If your children are age 8 or younger they probably already think you and your teachers are perfect, so you may not think you need this, but it is to you whom I am exactly referring to. We need to head off teenage rebellion, eliminate the causes and solidify the unity between you and your child.