I get it. They don’t want to “Traumatize” the students. This might be tough love, but I have this feeling that people need to stop pampering kids. The truth and reality of life is, people die.
These kids’ parents are Navy Sailors, and SEALS. You would think that the kids would have the notion somewhere in their minds that their parents profession is warfare, and that people die in war. I also think it should be on the parent to have that harsh talk with their child and say, “…there’s a chance that I’m not coming back…”.
The more and more people shield their children from the real world, the less the child will be ready to face it when the time comes. I am a parent. As a retired Paramedic I have had to explain certain things about life to my son that I thought wouldn’t need explaining for years to come. With deaths in the family, and my son being absolutely brilliant; he has asked valid and intelligent questions about death. I didn’t hide the truth or sugar coat anything, I told him what happens when people die according to our faith.
We all want to protect our children from harm. Shield them from the harshness of life that we all know is out there. Nothing hurts quite like watching your child be afraid or hurt. But, shouldn’t we also being toughening them up and preparing them for it?
Now, I’m no longer in the military and at risk of going to war, but I feel that maybe we should not coddle our kids so much. That’s just my thoughts on this, I get why they did it, not sure if I agree with it.
A Southern California school district will stop taking part in funeral processions for U.S. sailors and Navy SEALs killed overseas, which have drawn thousands of students.
The Coronado Unified School District and the Navy agreed on the move out of concern for children with parents serving overseas, The San Diego Union-Tribune reported Thursday.
Officials said some young participants have been traumatized by thoughts of their parents dying. At a November procession, some 2,000 students lined a street.
“Everyone’s heart was in the right place. We’re just saying that pragmatically — from our standpoint worrying about the safety of the community, and the school district worrying about the safety and the psyches of their students — we had to come up with a different plan,” Coronado City Manager Blair King told the newspaper.
“Our concern is communicating that with the public. We’re no less supportive than we ever have been, but we just can’t keep continue to have these types of processions.”
U.S. Navy officials also expressed the same sentiments.
“The practice started from a good place, but when we learned that young students were being traumatized by these events we wanted to show the city and school district that we could enjoy the same level of patriotism through other programs,” Navy Base Coronado spokeswoman Sandra DeMunnik told the paper.
Mueller added that there has not been any major pushback, aside from a few residents who have “expressed disappointment because they thought it was a good moment for reflection and added dignity to the procession.”