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We Can Do Better

Suffice it to say that in this technological age of streaming and DVRs, my kids have likely watched fewer commercials than when we were kids. They have seen ads. We all deal with ads, but when we're focused on trying to get past the ad, how much do we really pay attention?

But we recently switched from Dish to YouTube TV, something I don't regret. While watching a show as it was being aired, my kids saw a political ad. Their shock at the shade being thrown made me wonder if they've never seen a political ad before.

They laughed out loud as the smear campaign was played. Not in an amused way. No, it was the sort of nervous laughter that happens when you wonder if you really just heard what you think you heard.

It's the recognition that these are things we hear in TV shows, but didn't realize that, in this case, Hollywood imitates real life.

Are my children sheltered? Is that what happened? They go to public school. They remind me every day that I force them to a place where they see and hear worse than what's in the movies I refuse to let them watch.

They were surprised. After all, they heard an ad run pretty close to election day, which means the dirt being flung is getting pretty grimy. Do adults really talk this way about one another? Isn't this exactly the kind of behavior we teach our children not to participate in?

Is this really what it takes to 'win'? Are we satisfied that our 'winner' is only slightly less dirty than those who won't win? And these are the people we trust to lead us? To make important decisions for us?

I know this is insane to even expect. It has been for years. But our political leaders on both sides of the aisle are not representing any sort of adulthood or maturity that I want the next generation to assume is normal. Or acceptable.

We have disagreements. We need to learn how to treat one another with kindness. We need to learn how to disagree and still move forward together. It needs to be modeled in the Church first, where we can show the world how to love one another in the midst of our differences.

My teenager's reactions are telling. They laugh, because though they know this isn't how they're being raised to act, they see this immaturity lived out every day amongst their peers. Now they're seeing this behavior continues, and not just on Reality TV.

What if we were to show this to younger children? Would their questions of why adults can act this way be enough to move us towards something different? Because, needless to say, whomever wins on election day, it won't be our society.

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