Something else...

I thought I would write about something else today. I watched a program on TV the other day about violence in schools . It scared me. How do you protect your child from other children at school? It has gone beyond 'normal' bullying and seems to be much more violent. I used to hear the odd story about a child that was stabbed on the Cape flats or somewhere else and I would think that something like that will never happen where I live. But it is happening all over. Middle class and more affluent areas are affected just as much as the so-called poorer areas. Branston is in a private school because we thought that he would have more opportunities, be more protected, have a better chance in life. But the kids in private schools generally have more money to spend on drugs and other things. I am not saying that all kids in private schools use drugs but you cannot say that there is less of it there than in public schools.

I blame TV and movies for the violence. Ok, so we shouldn't allow him to watch violent things but do you know how hard it is to find non-violent programs on TV? Even cartoons are violent. I mean, are Tom and Jerry not always trying to beat each other up or eat each other? On TV the heroes can get shot or thrown off a building and walk away from it. We always try and explain to Branston that the things he watches on TV are not real and he must not try anything like that at home. But what about other kids? We have no control over them.

It's when I read these stories and others about murder and rape of young children that I start thinking maybe Kendra had the right idea. She is in a better place and will never risk being exposed to all these bad things. Don't worry, I am not thinking of joining her and I do know that there is a lot of good in the world eg here. I do just worry sometimes about what is going on out there.