Dear Editor:
A well-intentioned Mom titled her opinion piece in a Wyoming newspaper, “Instead of molding kids, behold them.”
This philosophy of child rearing suggests children are born with all the equipment they need to negotiate the treacherous terrain of the modern American world. Just let them be, and see what happens!
However, it turns out, kids are not quite like wildflowers. They don’t just grow up straight and tall and beautiful in whatever rocky soil they find themselves in.
Human beings have a lot of moving parts that have to be trained to interact with the environment, including the complex institutions of society.
When we relieve children of proper parenting, of healthy schooling, of gainful work and dignity, they wilt and die like wildflowers pulled from the ground. Human beings are the neediest species on planet earth.
The soil for human wildflowers is history, law, science, and ethics/religion. Their sunshine is parental love. Their rainwater is good counsel, regular employment, and the opportunity to live out their dreams.
We’ve got a long way to go in America, and in Wyoming, before we can behold the beauty God intended our children to radiate. Beauty isn’t in the eye of the beholder; it’s in the hands of the community.
Kimball Shinkoskey
