Where has “Common Sense” Gone?

Our World has forgotten the basic stuff.

Our world has changed completely in the last 50 years. You only need to look at photographs and speak to the older generation to get a glimpse of the world before our time. People were kinder to one another and there was more connection between families. People helped each other because times were tough, and many families were much larger than today.

People have slowly become complacent and arrogant over the years. There is very little empathy for others, and even less respect.

Our world is troubled, that’s for sure, but when it comes to people who completely forget about others, I get mad. When it relates to kids or animals suffering because someone has “forgotten” to think about others, I have to say something.

How our 2nd grade school trip turned into a nightmare: due to a lack of empathy and respect.

I teach 2nd grade, and a few months back, we took the kids on a boat trip to an area with small interconnecting rivers in a nature reserve. The kids had learned about rivers in school and were excited to have a day out of school.

As an elementary teacher, it’s hard to take kids out of school. There are rules that must be followed, planning paperwork, and permission slips from the parents. There’s also the responsibility for the kids that make us put our heads on a swivel. It’s all worth it when you see the kids excited about nature.

On the day of the trip, we got off the school buses at the entrance of the nature reserve. We counted the kids to make sure nobody had taken off before the rest of the class (it happens). After that, the kids were split into their groups and we started walking towards the boat in a long “caterpillar” formation. It wasn’t far, 200 yards or so, to the boat.

Two men were coming towards us — just two of them, and there were 52 of us in an organized formation. The men decided to walk right into one group of kids, splitting the kids up by bumping into one of them. It was a few seconds of stupidity from two adults who should have known better, but it made a big difference to our school trip.

The kid who got bumped lost his balance and fell. He landed awkwardly on his arm and broke his wrist in the fall. Seconds later he was crying hysterically, and every kid gathered round him in shock. Our very organized line was a mess of crying kids.

I shouted some things at the men and another teacher echoed my words. We couldn’t say what we wanted to because we were surrounded by “little ears”. The men ignored us and carried on walking, got in their truck and drove off without a backward glance.

We had to call the boy’s parents to come and take him to the Emergency Room. It sure put a dampener on our trip because the rest of the kids were worried about their friend — even the boat ride couldn’t calm some of them.

One little boy paid the price on that ill-fated school trip, and I’m still angry now, months after it happened. The boy has healed up and recovered completely but I still feel responsible for what happened.

A planned school trip — a great day out on the water, turned into a nightmare; one that I won’t forget in a hurry.

What happened to Common Sense? When did people stop thinking about others? Where is the empathy and respect?

How a family bike ride, traumatized my kids

It’s vacation time, and I love the outdoors. We often pack up the car and have days out or go out of state for a long weekend. I’m a big fan of national parks and we love walking. My kids have hiked our trails since they wore diapers.

We were a lot slower back in those days but I taught my kids from an early age to treasure all living things around us and respect nature and animals.

Not everyone grows up with respect for our surroundings.

I took the kids to a park with a lake that we often visit. It’s a sweet spot for catching up with our friends, and it has a play park and some animals that live near the water. Among those are swans and they have had babies this year.

Swans are beautiful creatures to watch but our last trip ended in heart ache. A city worker drove his truck too close to the birds, and flattened one of the babies in front of my kids and other families, who were out for the day. It was nasty and a real shock for some of the kids as the animal got caught in the wheel.

Where did his common sense go that day?

We couldn’t believe he didn’t see the animals were too close to his truck, as he carried on driving. A crowd of people ran up to him and made him stop. He was written up by an off-duty cop who happened to be there.

How can people be this complacent around kids and animals? Where is the respect?

My youngest son was traumatized by what he saw, and he’s had a few sleepless nights. I wish I could have shielded him from seeing an animal being killed in that way. As a mom, you want to protect your kids from any hurt until they are old enough to handle it.

Sometimes, situations happen that are out of our control and we must move on from them. I decided to make the incident a lesson about respect. We returned to the park today and someone had laid some flowers and there was a “goodbye picture” made by a child of the swan with his family.

Kids see things all the time that they shouldn’t. As adults we need to think about how to best handle those situations and help the child through the heart ache. My son has made peace with what happened and I’m hoping for a good night’s sleep tonight.

My name is Lizzy. I’m a trauma survivor, a wife, a mom, a teacher and an author.

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