to be sad at the state of the world

[mummywheresmywoowoo]

I have thought long and hard about this, everytime i turn on the news of pick up a paper it makes me so sad. As a parent it also scares me.
Children today are no longer children, everything is sexed up and children can't wait to be grown up, sadly today that seems to mean drinking, having sex and stabbing each other.
We have a ferile generation, broken homes everywhere you look, familys consisting of mother, several children by several fathers, absent fathers knocking out more children with any woman silly enough to sleep with them.
School girls having babies, and god forbid if you frown upon them, that makes you a bigot. oh and if you say the word God that makes you a loon. But look at the state of the world, teenage pregnancy up, abortion up, drinking and drug use up, un married mothers/broken homes absent fathers up, how many more children are going to be stabbed or shot before we say enough.
The state in not an endless free for all and can't cope, the NHS is falling apart, I am dreading getting old as poverty looms.

On a world wide scale AIDS is wiping out a nation and the pope still deems contraceptive as evil, children die because they do not have the basic food, clean water shelter. Child soldiers are given guns and sent to kill, corrupt goverments are left to goven, unless they have oil. Mothers watching their children die, mothers being raped going for drinking water, babies being raped to cure AIDS, it is never ending, a new war every day, a new bit of land a new god a new power to fight for.

I saw some children sing last night, African children AIDs orphans, they were brill, and I thought how wondreful that these children who have nothing, who have lost parents, some of whom have HIV themself were happy and smiling and so greatful for what they did have, puts out binge drinking, sleep around undre age sex benifit living british to shame.

Well you have made me even more depressed after reading that.However everything you said is true. I dread to think what the world will be like in 20 years when our lo's are grown up. Some of the things going on are outrageous and i cant believe what im hearing. Even things like paying people to lose weight or stop smoking or even keeping your childrens health up to date - madness!!! What about the average somebody who works and abides by all laws?
Now you've started me off!

we do not have a feral generation! there are some yes but there are some lovely kids out there too- you should see the local sn swimming club, all he volunteers are teenagers

most brits are decent hard working people who raise their kids well and with love. the others might get the media coverage but look around you, there is kindness everywhere. look at what hapened on mn when Peter was ill- the waits for news,; the support for people who have lost partners; the christmas surprises

there is misery in life, there always has been and the media emphasises it. there is also kindness arund every corner but it takes a bit of looking for

I agree with you. I worry for my DD and feel myself getting more and more nostalgic for how childlike I and my pals were was until our teens.

I have faith in human nature. the force for good is stronger than the force for evil. We will be fine, expect the best and we will get it

I agree 100% with Peachy. The majority of Brits are decent hard working family people. I volunteer for a local childrens charity and I am by no means the only volunteer there.

I do get sad about the state of the world and the bad side of human nature. But I don't think it is getting worse. Everything you describe has been going on for centuries. If not the exact same detail, then illnesses, poor conditions, war, violence, rape and murder, war, unmarried mothers, feckless fathers etc etc. But in the past there were fewer effective medicines, fewer laws to protect us, no NHS, and more closed societies and more inequality and fewer human rights meant that things like child abuse, rape, domestic violence etc were more likely to be suffered in silence, but they still went on.

Look at shakespeare. Violence, murder, war, cruelty and teenagers having sex and stabbing each other a-go-go!

I am shocked and horrified by how horrendously cruel and violent people can be - but also by how wonderful people can be and how amazing it is that, given that we could all be anarchic and violent and only out for ourselves if we wanted, most of us actually behave well and kindly and rub along.

everything has been going on, the good thing is now we're all aware of it and hopefully can put it right (one day,,)

it has always been like this. I think what changes is how much attention we give to what is happening outside our own lives. Since having DS i have become more active in trying to change things for the better - nothign to drastic, just not getting anything for xmas, but asking for those charity gifts, joining a few organisations, volunteering for a couple of things - you know, just making a few changes. THis doesnt stop me feeling hugely guilty of having so much when millions dont have clean drinking water.

incidentally, the last school i taught at restored my hopes in the next generation - the girls at the grammar school were lovely, kind, intelligent people who are now going out into the world and making a positive impact. i wont tell you about the other schools, apart from to say that DS is going to be home educated!!!

I also blame the meeja for making us think like this. The majority of streets in your/my town are people like us trying to raise our children well. The best thing is to avoid news as it's the worst thing to poison a mind against the goodness in this world - it's not interesting to report normal behaviour.
Awful things have happened in this world since creation, I don't think that it's any worse now than other historical times of famine/ wars/ disease/ crime/ poverty, it's just that it's thrust in our faces all the time. Just think if there wasn't any news, hardly any of us would know of the atrocities around, and we could happily live in our own little bubble.

look at itr like this-

unmarried mothers: used to be ostracised, now supported and can keep their own children. they're not even placed in psychiatric care as some were

disabled kids allowed to remain with their famillies

all our kids get an education, for free. that's actually amazing.

that the nhs exists at all we should thank God for

gay people can walk the streets, black people have legal redress if treated badly, people who are too ill for work don't end up in workhouses

hurrah for it all!

You positive optimists have made me feel better

OP - do you read the Daily Mail?

I am not for one moment saying every Brit is a scrounging, drunk slapper.
But it seems the harder you work the less you get.

Children are killing each other on the streets, old people will not leave their homes for fear of being mugged, a friend had her bag snatched by a teenager on a bike last week, dragging her in to the road to do so, she is 6 months pregnant .

A baby that could live if born at 24 weeks can also be aborted at the same age. Abortion is used instead of condoms.

We look at people of other races, colours, who kneel to other Gods with eyes that say are you a bomber.

Yes there are good people here and in the real world, but I feel we are fighting against the tide sometimes.

yes, i agree with Ambi - dont watch the news or read the papers. You have to look after yourself when you feel a bit vulnerable. Have you seen this...

positive news

There are so many good things happening in the world - we just dont get to hear about them. Today at the supermarket, i was very frazzled with a whingy DS and the supervisor unloaded and packed my stuff - how kind!

Good lord, you need to read some history girls! I'm reading a history of England to ds and as he so rightly says, 'It's all cheating and tricking and cutting each others' heads off, isn't it mummy?'

Bloody hell. This is the most miserable thread I have ever seen. Like a concentrated version of the DM.

It's really not that bad. Get a grip.

but don't you think awful things have always happened?

there are two tricks in life: accept it or chamnge it.

its not easy. i habve spent the last 3 years working for a degree so i can work to combat racism.... but i shall be doing something, which is how the bad things of yesterday were chasnged.

you don't have to do much, just calling on an elderly neighbour or even smiling at a stressed mum helps. if we all do something though it can change

if you look elsewhere on mn you'll see I have a life with challenges and I get cery down at times, but if you lose faith in humanity you lose everything.

btw, is there a pssibilty that you (op) are a bit low atm? because the world can seem bleak when we are

and if you are low, is there anything we can do to help?

I felt so much like this when my daughter was first born - the world is terrible and every night on the news families were killed in car crashes. I still pray whilst flying after watching a doc about Lockerbie and even a fire drill at work when we work in a building with "twin towers" gives me the most morbid thoughts....But as Peachy says, not everything is bad - we are really fortunate to live in the west where generally we're not starving, under permanent threat of being shot etc. I know the govt's not perfect and times are getting a bit hard, but still....I've been doing my family tree since I don't get out as much now. Our ancestors brought up huge families in substandard, tiny accommodation with dad as a labourer and mum sewing gloves. What did they eat? Where did everyone sleep? I bet no-one was concerned with a bit of dirt and packing healthy lunchboxes and whether dcs got into the "right" school and whether they were spending enough quality time with them. Add to that that many kids died at birth or in infancy and that many mothers died in childbirth. There was always the workhouse of course.....

I think it is admirable to care about people worse off than us, and if we can do our bit through charity or volunteering then that is great - but beyond that, we didn't choose where we were born. Life is hard and unfair and all we can do is realistically do the best we can for our nearest and dearest. Be grateful for what you have, and if you have the wherewithal to help others in anyway then do so - but nothing is gained by sitting home worrying about it.

The biggest problem we have is too much 'alleged' knowledge'. We see far more of the world via tv/satellite/internet than our forefathers (excuse my sexist outdated language) ever used to.
But as has been said we have far more to be thankful for. The much maligned NHS is far better than the barber/surgeon we used to have to resort to.
Being a single mom and looked down on by an ignorant few is far preferable than being locked up.
I don't think any of us have had to sell our last couple of children to the chimney sweep or workhouse to feed the other hungry mouths recently.
Look at how something as 'small' as MN has helped so many women do things small or big :- carry on BFing when it seemed hopeless/not kill or hurt themselves/get out of a very abusive relationship/just have a bloody good laugh....
Humankind is doing ok. Just look at things like the Tsumani appeal. How many people took the suffering of someone else on board and did something.

Well said Mistypeaks!

Things like this have always happened. There has always been wars, and poverty, and teenage pregnancies and rape etc. It's just that with the rise of the media in the past 100 years and especially now with the internet we hear about all. Also the media have a way of sensationlising these things.

The saddest thing I have found on this thread is that so many of you have said "it has always been like this, we just know more about it now".

Yes we have better information, we have better health care, we have, have, have......

The point is not everybody has... yes in most places un-married mothers are accepted, gays can go about without fear of attack, black people can get on a bus and have any seat, but NOT everywhere, and this is what needs to be changed... we (in the west) have come a long way from the dark ages, we do not stone women to death for having sex outside of marriage, but they do it other places (not the men that do though).
In South Africa it was wrong to treat the black people so badly and the world said so, it changed, now white farmers are being burned to death the world needs to say again it is wrong, in China leaving a healthy baby to die on a shelf because it is a girl not a boy is wrong, children in sudan dieing for the sake of a clean cup of water is wrong...
The world needs to stand up and say so

How many people here have reached out to a stranger through this site, someone who has had a loss, been left alone, is sick? You might pass that same person on the street and never know, so does the fact mumsnet is (for the most part) friendly, fluffy helpfull make it easy, if we saw the same person on the news or in the paper would we turn it off of put it down and say, well its always been that way shit happens?

I am part of the live aid generation, I gave my fucking money just as sir Bob told me to, and you know what....not a lot changed, I still see pain, suffering, death every day on the news.
I pass people living in boxes on the streets, I see people waiting on hospital lists I pay my taxes to help these people not to have young men and women sent to fight for oil and come home in coffins.

I know it is a bit problem and its a bit like eating an elephant, you do it a bite at a time, and it might not be till my childrens children stand up and say no that we are down to the bones of it, but we need to start now, one day, one person, one life at a time.

Agree with Carmenere and with Ambi about the news. The media is a multi-billion pound profit-making business. It has a vested interested in creating disquiet. A bad story always sells better. The up side of free reporting though is that at last international awareness of the situation in Zimbabwe is starting to make things difficult for Mugabe.

I think the world is generally getting better. One could even argue that rapant consumerism has a benefit inasmuch as poorer families now have access to cheap food which they didn't in the past. This must of course be balanced with environmental concerns.

Tis the balance that's important and the fact that we keep trying.

mummywhersmy, you're right that thesew things happen worldwide but first of all that doesn't denigrate (is that the right word?) the improvements that have been made. Also a huge boon of today is that anyone can have a voice. All it takes is 30 minutes on the Akmnesty or Oxfam websites to make that voice heard. That's a good thing, no?

Indeed its only because our lives are so (relatively) good that we can afford now to be concerned about people who are less fortuante, if our time was spent loking for that extra 20p to feed ourselves or py the gp bill, it would be too much.

But also becuase this state is relatively new we haven't as a socirety yet developed coping mechanisms to deal with it all- either we turn our back or get weighed down, neither of which is positive. We need to learn how we can enable change but in a way which doesnt affect our health or functioning.

You talk in the Op about God o I assume you have faith? Prayer can be useful. Ask God how you can help, and ask him to be with you as you experience the news etc that upsets you. Use this time as a way of closing the door on that concern for that day so you can switch focus.