innocence

Riverside - Agnes Obel

The American Heritage Dictionary defines vulgar as "of or associated with the great masses of people as distinguished from the educated or cultivated classes; common...spoken by, or expressed in language spoken by, the common people; vernacular...deficient in taste, delicacy, or refinement...ill-bred; boorish; crude...obscene or indecent; offensive; coarse or bawdy." When I read this I think: South Park. SNL. PB and Cosmo Magazines. American Pie. Dumb and Dumber. And every other Box Office hit of modern comedy films. Most thirteen year old American kids can quote entire skits of Dane Cook, without skipping a beat, or a cussword for that matter. It's frustrating and discouraging to engage in, or even hold a conversation about anything at all with most people. The masses have been dumbed down, broadened, and brain-washed. Sigh. I would like to snatch up all those children sitting on the curb that are tweeting or texting, and throw them into a library. Maybe lock them in there for a week or two. Children need nature and art to gently nourish and develop them into clear-thinking adults. "Art, to many, is cultivated and refined by
nature, and therefore separate from the great masses."(Comparative Literature and Culture: Purdue University) Instead of influential literature, art, music, and a motivating free-roam environment to stimulate their imagination, children and teens are faced with shallow modern paperbacks, technology, and entertainment to fill their time. If the brain is like a thirsty sponge, what nourishment are they absorbing?? Last weekend when I babysitted again, these eight and ten year old boys sat in front of a tv screen. The entire five hours. They went from video game to video game, to tv show, to movie, to Wii, then back to vegetating in front of another tv show until they passed out. All my attempts to distract them from technology and engage them in something more stimulating was of no avail. And in fact, literature or music was futile as their collection of books was direly lacking, and there was not an instrument in sight. They also live in the city, so there was nothing outside to attract them. Like most young boys their attention span was short, impatient, and restless. It was painful for me to see them cooped up, restricted, and dulled down by technology and entertainment. I call this nature-deficit disorder. Sigh. I would like to scoop up every video gamer pro and every Nickelodeon vegetate and throw them into a forest. Perhaps give them a few fairytales to absorb into their little thirsty imaginations. Over and out. I believe my rant is over.