Hey, Mickey191: You're right, of course. I've overstated my position. The couple of times that I've challenged people about the 40's were people who are extremely racist. I wouldn't normally say that to anyone, but I got angry with two women who were judging today's world, because they have openly stated that the jews got what they desearved in the holocaust and that they should send the negroes back to Africa. Yes, there are people still that racist and ugly in this world. Hard to believe. I was astonished to hear the statement that the jews got what they deserved at Auschwitz. sickened by it. That's why when they started complaining about black welfare Mother's I lost my temper and challenged them when they started saying how much worse things are today.

I agree... the 40's were all that you described, and I'm glad I grew up then. As a family, even though we were hardly a Norman Rockwell family, we did enjoy sitting around together listening to the radio, doing puzzles, playing board games and singing. Kids had a chance to be kids when I grew up... something they are mostly deprived of now. They are looked upon as sales units, I'm afraid. Even raising my sons in the 80's and 90's seemed better than today. It's no wonder to me that other countries hate their cultures being "Americanized," with the deterioration of music and movies over here.

There's a lot of great wisdom coming out in these posts. C-flat has posed a complex and disturbing question and it will take a lot of us to fully express the issues involved. It is true that there needs to be some balance between setting values AT HOME for your children, and still letting them be in the world. Each parent has to find their own balance, and to some extent, we all get it at least a little "wrong." Some people I know tried to protect their kids by sending them to private school, thinking that kids have been raised better who go there. But, you can't escape from the culture you live in, and your kids are going to be exposed to it, no matter what you do. I guess if I have any strong feelings about all of this is that it's what happens at home that matters most. If you raise your kids with respect and teach them to value themselves and others, they will be able to withstand the peer pressures without becoming so cut off from everyone that they can't have friends. They'll just find other kids like them... and there are others. Not all kids are like Eminem or Britney Speers.

I have a granddaughter who is the age of CFlat's daughter, and she is going to be exposed to everything he talks about. She is already, as she has reached the ripe old age of 6. She has a younger brother who will start kindergarten next year, and he will be immersed in school pressures soon, too. There's a saying that we are to be "in" this world but not "of" it. I think that's the challenge of raising your kids today, perhaps more than ever. It's going to take a lot of love and respect at home to help kids deal with the world around them when they're with their friends.

Jerry