Let me introduce myself. My name is Scribe. I used to live here, writing every day but then I didn't. And now I'm back and I'm happy to be here.
I didn't know what to write about today. I had dozens of ideas floating around but nothing landed until I spoke to my nephew. He's a great kid, now 14 who loves baseball, wrestling and has a wicked sense of humour, and until today, I thought he was open-minded and kind. Today, I was disappointed and disgusted.
I was surfing his Facebook (we're friends, you know) and noticed a profile picture that did not match to who I thought he was. Add to that a reference he made while on the telephone the other day and I was reeling. Did I actually hear that? In this day and age? Do I have your attention now, bloggers?
The photo I saw was actually a modified movie poster - Jaws - but instead of the Great White star of the film, the movie poster showed an Orthodox Jew, complete with the curls, hat and razor sharp teeth. Yes, my nephew is anti-Semetic. But, I gave him the benefit of the doubt, especially since he's 14 and his sense of humour is not fully defined. But then he repeated a song that he and his friends sang while on a school trip and I was disgusted. It disparaged not only Jews but Muslims. I immediately gave him shit and will have a sit down with his parents (my bro and sis-in-law) in the next few days.
If there is something I can not stand is intolerance and I'm shocked and dismayed that it reared its ugly head from the mouth of my nephew. Is he a throw-back or is this the new state of the teenage mind, or any mind at any age for that matter? I hope not. I hope that we have come a little farther than that, but I suspect not.
When I was growing up I was obsessed with everything about the Holocaust, wondering how people could let this happen, how they could sit back and do nothing as millions of Jews were rounded up, beat and gassed, stripping them of their clothes, possessions, family and dignity. I thought the same thing when gays were persecuted for their sexual preferences.
And now it's my nephew who is spouting this rhetoric, putting images up on Facebook and making up songs that disparages one race or another - Jews, gays, Muslims... it's all the same and I am really disappointed.
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OOOuch - I also stalk my teenage nephew on Fb and am horrified by his 'attitudes'.
ReplyDeleteI would say it's a phase, but not even that excuses it. That kind of behavior needs to be nipped in the bud IMMEDIATELY.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry. That's disappointing. It's so easy for kids to be warped by their friends. I had a talk with my son about a month ago about friends, after using a horribly foul term for gay people. Either do not be influenced by your friends and their ridiculous opinions, or I'll start picking your friends for you.
ReplyDeleteAw bugger. I'm sure it's a 'stage' but the 'stages' are there for US (adults) to discuss and work on. He is surely influenced by his friends too and doesn't yet measure the depth of what's behind his actions. It's now that you have to explain all this to him and either allow him to 'influence' his peers positively rather than being the follower, or at least show him what these sorts of attitudes lead to. There's no point in just 'banning' it. He has to understand how a whole country of people were lead to allow the most hideous crimes against humans to happen all by initially believing it was harmless.
ReplyDeleteTalk to him about 9/11 and explain that his attitude can lead to the same sort of extremist behaviour one day.
I don't know why they don't learn this more clearly in school I tell ya!!
Good luck
hmmm this is quite serious...maybe he is getting it from school and has really got some wrong ideas about other religious faiths.
ReplyDeleteYour nephew is at an awkward stage in life and lots of ideas are floating around. A talk at this stage is very important.