So true Caroline. Your kids will grow up to make a difference from the conversations that you have with them now.

I thought that they did a great job.

I hope that the clip will start a great conversation between you and your children.

Our kids keep us on our toes, don't they?

I once told my girls there are children in our community, and world, who don't have enough to eat. And Clara piped up, "Well, where are their moms?" and I said, "The moms don't have enough to eat either." and she said, "Why don't they eat with us?" and I still think about that. They put my check into the collection plate at church, and I tell them it's helping feed children around the world. They worry about people downtown asking for money and pester me until I give them a dollar to hand the person. I don't explain the unraveling of banking regulations, or the ratio of CEO to worker salary here v. Japan, but I do want them to know they are blessed by grace with the lives they have.

Especially in these hard economic times.

Much like you, my initial reaction changed after I watched the clip. The part where the little girl whose daddy didn't have food to send for a snack broke my heart.

Honestly, my hesitation stemmed from the fact that my first son was a very sensitive child. When he was as old as 4 years old, he became easily troubled by the hardships of the world. His tender heart could not process the big thoughts that filled his mind. I learned that I had to filter what I felt his anxious mind could handle. Now he is almost 7 years old and can handle social issues without freaking out. We do talk about social issues with no problem, but as a mom of a deep thinker, this gave me pause.

Hopefully, this generation of children will be raised with more empathy.

The episode ran on Sunday but if you follow the link in the article it will lead you to clips from the show. Grab your Kleenex before you head over there, it's a tear jerker!

Ok, I was reading/commenting from my phone before. I've watched it now. Total tear jerker! But, I think it was well done. While it addressed the issue directly, there was a solution that was also presented. I think kids who worry can find comfort in that.

Wow! Thanks so much for this link!!

I believe that making sure that no child goes to bed with a hungry tummy does not foster intergenerational poverty. With all due respect to you Karsten, you present a very privileged perspective.

I get what your saying here and perhaps you perceive yourself as trying to empower children. I think that a dose of compassion would help your argument. Impoverished children did not ask to be born in poverty. Families who are down and out need some sort of advantage to pull themselves up. Perhaps a child could learn how to overcome their hardships by watching their parents take the steps to receive assistance. I hope that you can maintain your current socio-economic status because God forbid if you find yourself in dire straits with no food for your children. I'm sure that you would accept some sort of assistance then. We need to look out for our fellow man. Especially when the people we are talking about are innocent children.

What a sobering exercise. I lasted 8 days.

Well of course you did. I lasted three months and got bored. Problem is, it always presents the worst possible outcome, and makes references to the negatives in life. This is my point. If we teach children how to adapt and that they aren't the victim and that life is a result of choices, they will do better. I'm not saying everything that happens to people is their fault, hence my comment previously about bad things happening to good people, I'm just saying that life does indeed occasionally suck. It's how we deal with it....

"Well of course you did. I lasted three months and got bored." Nice response. I hope you aren't passing on your egotisical superiority to your progeny.

exactly!!!!

"Well of course you did" didn't have anything to do with a person's ability in this exercise. This exercise was focused on the bad. You had to pay to get into an apartment. Then in the same month, within days of that, there's a rent increase or you have to move. Within days, remember. Not very realistic.

All I'm saying is that having this for reference sake is not a bad idea, I kind of liked the exercise, but it got very old very quick. EVERYTHING was negative. From how the questions were phrased to what the choices were. That's all I'm referring to - attitude. If we teach these children to cope as youngsters, they'll be better equipped to handle things in life.

Notice in my original post I said that bad things will happen to good people. It's not a bad thing to take money when you're down and out, but that's not the ultimate goal. Self-reliance is the ultimate goal. Take handouts until you can get back up. Again, like I stated earlier - "life does indeed occasionally suck. It's how we deal with it...."

I think people who haven't experienced the chaos of the universe don't understand what it is like when circumstances change and you have no control over them. My father had a stroke....he had never even had a cold in his life. He went to a nursing home when my mother could no longer take care of him, and with him went his pension. When he died there, my mother was on the hook for $44K, which she didn't have, because his pension ended when he did....do you really believe that life is something we can control? I've met people who lost everything following a catastrophic illness. People who owned houses, saved their money and had health insurance, all gone in a couple of years. And people who lost their jobs--in marketing and managing--three years ago and who haven't been able to find new ones. They have college degrees and years of experience, and have looked everywhere in the country. So now they are doing minimum wage work. I am glad that the sun has always shined on Ms. Torch thus far in her life, because I fear it won't be like that forever.

I fear everybody is missing my point. My point is that it's how you deal with it. I've been poor, and I've been comfortable. I've never been rich, but I've been better then most. I was hit hard by the real estate collapse, and am still digging out. And was digging out while unemployed for a year. It sucks. I could have declared bankruptcy, gotten out of it that way, started over. But I didn't. I owe the money I'm paying back. I'll be allright, as long as nothing catastrophic happens. God forbid it does, but if it does, I plan to deal with it how I have to and move on. Somehow. I know it's not easy, I never said it was. I never said that everything that happens that is bad is that person's fault. All I said was that we need to be careful how we introduce this idea to our children. We don't need to teach them to be dependent on government. We don't need to give them the idea that life sucks, that they have no say so in what happens, that no matter what they do, where they land is by divine intervention, or the fault of 'The Man' or whatever. If we give them the skills to cope, they'll be better off. Seriously, people, focus. Never in my original post did I say it was the fault of the kids or the parents or anybody else. I merely put forth the idea about teaching children life skills. Do or don't, whatever. But understand that how your children deal with life will be directly related to how they are taught at home.

Well, that's nice. i think he's not on the same wavelength as most of the other people who are commenting. Most of whom are women.

I would agree with Rebecca on this one...this difference of perspective could be influenced by gender, for sure.