‘Forget the latest gadgets, these are the skills our grandchildren need’

I have been thinking a lot over the last few weeks just how difficult it is for our younger generation. Suicide, anxiety, depression, self harm, poor self image, just to name a few. It feels as though society has lost it way.

I feel our grandchildren are growing up too quickly and the expectations society has on them will cause them an enormous amount of unwanted stress. Today’s parents are working themselves into an early grave to provide a meaningless iPad, branded clothes, or the latest model phone! For what? So their children can fit into society, so people like them? Have parents lost their way and caused more harm than good?

The schools recognise the high achievers and the kids who excel at sports and that’s all well and good. What about the kids that display empathy, kindness, good morals, and values?

These are the kids protecting our grandchildren at school. They are the ones protecting them from harm or making them feel included, standing with and protecting a child with disabilities or simply asking them if they are okay. Where is the acknowledgment? These kids and their parents deserve to be acknowledged.

I feel like I’m living amongst a generation of people who are so self-absorbed. People are basically a number in the healthcare system, an inconvenience to the emergency room and given a pill because it’s much easier to print a script than to take up a doctor’s time to find the underlying medical condition.

When my generation had children, we stayed at home and raised them. Nowadays, most of our grandchildren have someone else raise them. Childcare, as a rule. I myself did not have children just so someone else could raise them. It makes no sense to me.

In a great many situations I’m aware of, grandchildren are — the majority of the time — being shaped by the child carer or the teachers they have at school. By God that’s a gamble!

Social media is feeding anxiety and is a breeding ground for bullying. Too much exposure to social media is not good for the young ones.

If only parents could take back some control in their life and have their children understand that life is about helping others, about being kind, caring and giving. Acknowledging the people in the past, present and future that deserve recognition or a kind word. The ones who are isolated, elderly, sick or in need of care or support. These are the people who are most important .

The size of your house or how much money you have, should not matter. I want the young people of today to teach their kids to be honest genuine people. Above all, I want them to teach their kids to be kind!

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