Sunday, January 27, 2008

Provincialism


I have been reading "Boom" by Tom Brokaw. This book is a series of Mr. Brokaw's recollections and remembrances from the 1960s and early 70s. I was in grade school and high school during the period of time.


Today, my husband and I, along with Lil Man, watched "We Are Marshall". For any of you who don't know this story, it is the story of the Marshall (West Virginia) University football team. 37 members of the team, along with the coaching staff and 22 boosters perished in a plane crash in November of 1970. The movie is the story of the rebuilding of the team, the town, the university and the honoring of those players.


I was beginning my junior year of high school in November 1970.


I grew up in a very insular society. I attended 12 years of Catholic schools and the county that I grew up in was NOT racially diverse. I did not grow up uneducated. I studied current events in school. My parents subscribed to the local daily newspaper and on Sundays, we got the paper from "The City". We watched the nightly news on TV, all 15 minutes of it. I was a typical self-absorbed 16 year old.


I have no recollection of the story of the Marshall University plane crash. I have no recollection of a great many of the things that are in Mr. Brokaw's book.


I think that we were braver and more courageous for not having all of this knowledge. We truly were not aware of all of the pitfalls awaiting us. We knew that we were the brightest, the best, the boldest. We knew that we were the future.


I think it time that the right to know is tempered with the right to protect. The right to protect our children's dreams and hopes and spirits is ours. It just takes diligence and control. Yes, control. We have the right, the obligation, to control our children's lives until they have the ability and the knowledge to do it themselves. It is necessary for us to monitor their media input, their friends, their reading material. It is our job to remind them, and ourselves, that they are the best, the brightest, the boldest. They are the future and the world, the wonderful world, rife with possibilities and opportunities, is theirs.


It is not necessary to know everything about everybody, everywhere, every second of every day. History is often a lesson best learned when it is history and not still current events.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Amen! And, I love the little Catholic school girl. Makes me want to bust out my oxford and plaid!

Kim said...

Is there room on that there soapbox of yours for lil' ol' me?

I think it also sears their consciences and immunizes their sensitivities and compassions so that they are unable to feel the hurts and needs of others, let alone a responsibility to others. They begin to feel they can do whatever they want without regard to how it effects other so long as it serves their purposes. They don't feel a connectivity or responsibility to something greater than themselves. They are the whole rather than a part.

Robinella said...

I stopped watching news and reading papers years ago. When I want/need to know something, I hop on the net, find that ONE thing and move on.

Sensationalism has desensitized our world. And it seems we need to see more and more to get that high.

Anonymous said...

I couldn't agree more.

It is good to be aware and to know current events - but now days it becomes overwhelming and consuming.

The Hawaii Rulisons said...

Hi Sandy and thank you so much for Ralphie! I will post pics and the story on the blog as soon as I feel better. I just wanted to thank you! Funny how we got paired out of a hat and your hubby is a retired Senior Chief and my hubby just made it this year! I am sure there is plenty to talk about. Please keep in touch and I will update you soon! Thanks again, Ralphie is a family favorite of our and he was a perfect addition to our tree!

Debs said...

I don't watch or read the news too much anymore. They all concentrate on the bad. The good news that is reported is on the last page of the paper or given 10 seconds before the news is off.

Anonymous said...

Oh, Sandy, I so agree with everything you wrote.

Megnificent said...

So sorry to do this to you, toots, but I tagged you. Head on over to my place for your obligations. If it's any consolation, I tagged your whole family. :)

Jill said...

i wrote a commentary about the Brokaw book over on my site when it first came out. i havent read it, but my point was that if everyone from that era had survived instead of a lot of those famous people dying from drug complications or being assassinated, we'd have a better society. dont you think?

 
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