Our Undenurtured Children

By Elder George

This week I learned of a recently published book entitled, Ships Without a Shore: America’s Undernurtured Children, by Anne R. Pierce a self-described independent scholar. Ms. Pierce comments on the deleterious effect on American children of sending them to day care centers and after school programs rather then having them at home to receive the nurturing care of their mothers.

This week I also came across the results of a survey that indicated most Americans expressed dissatisfaction with the educational system’s efforts to prepare children for adulthood, especially their ability to get jobs and earn a living. These two bits of information represent the perverted viewpoint of Western society regarding the purpose of human development and how to attain it.

The activity of every species of life on the planet focuses on reproducing itself. Cultural practices of all societies support the activity of propagation and preservation, as do most religious tenets. Western man on the other hand turned the responsibility for the propagation and security of the populace over to the State 2,500 years ago, which led to the lack of nurturing of society.

The jacket of Ms. Pierce’s book lists the following effects of the lack of nurturing on American children:

Children overwhelmed by stress…Children plagued by emptiness…Children unable to pay attention…

Children lacking a conscience…Children obsessed with media-induced trends…

Could it be that America’s thrust forward leaves children without a solid foundation upon which to grow?

Many of these children require sedation in the form of various drugs, as they seem to develop a disproportionate amount of Attention Deficit Disorder problems. These children also have a propensity for violence and it is no coincidence that America has the most violent boys in the world.

Most of society has an awareness of the change in behavior of its children, yet the practice of “farming out” the care of children by mothers shows no signs of abating. Once a child reaches the age of two they are enrolled in some sort of day care system. Mothers actually brag at how soon they have their children in day care. An unwed mother recently told me with pride that her 16 year-old boy had been in day care since infancy.

While I could identify with Ms. Pierce’s findings, I felt that she too was part of the system that caused the neglect of our children. Not once in all the reviews, commentary, promotion and interviews did I come across the words man, husband, or father. This omission says more about the state of raising our children than does her entire book. Even the word family wasn’t raised except in her reference to single parent families. Ms. Pierce informs us that she has three children, but she makes no reference to their father or her husband. She seems not to understand that to be agood mother requires being a good wife so that children can see the natural interaction of both sexes as they mature.

There we have it—the Western ignorance of patriarchy in full bloom. No need for men, husbands or fathers in this liberated and emancipated society. The fate of children is in the hands of an impersonal and loveless State. How sad.   

Elder George’s website is www.mensaction.net and he can be reached at 212-874-7900 ext. 1329.

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