Today, Jane came home quite upset. What was wrong, I immediately asked.
"Well, is it true that these big events like the earthquake in Japan means that next year, the world is going to end?"
{sigh}
Parents don't seem to think before they say things in front of their kids. People don't seem to use their brains at all, sometimes, with the things they flat out tell their kids.
I'm not going to go off on my personal beliefs on the subject here, but I strongly believe that you don't take away a child's hope! Ever! For any reason! I don't care if you think it's true. Some days when I was a kid, the only thing that kept me going was that I would someday be an adult and rid of these bullies and the bull shite that went on. I am not about to take that away from my child and I can't fathom why these crack nuts who place all their faith on a tenuous myth would basically say to a child "oh, you're going to die. Not just someday, but next year. Yeah, you'll never seen adulthood, let alone your teen years."
Tell me; what pre-teen does not look forward to being a teen so much that it's really the only thing they live for? What pre-teen can handle the concept of death?
Ridiculous.