The Phoenix Manifesto (Deluxe)

VI. What's Done in the Dark Will Always Find a Way to Shine

John 3:20 - "Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed."

Over time, the children are having less and less of a safe space to grow up properly. Meaning that they are being exposed to things too early, thus interrupting the maturity process of our youth. Many people look at this and subtly sweep it under the rug, but it is becoming a true epidemic. In schools, the only thing our teenagers talk about is pornography and drugs. A current issue is vaping, and before long, teenagers will get their hands more dirty and more dirty over time. The amount of time we spend in the same spot, the more we become numb to it. This also arises the problem that everybody, these days, has to be in a constant state of pleasure. Anatomically, we were not made to be in a constant state of pleasure, but people want to have somewhere to turn when things get dirty. Somewhere to get their next fix. Somewhere they can take refuge. The earlier people are exposed to things of the adult life, the sooner they seek things that give pleasure. They realize at a young age, that this is a corrupt world full of selfish people, and while this is true, the innocence of a child is a precious thing. Like a pearl found at the bottom of the ocean, the innocence of children is becoming more rare by the year. With the exposure of explicit content getting worse and worse, we do not know what to expect out of our youth anymore. Exposure is becoming a serious problem that is leading to long term issues that must be addressed and fixed accordingly.

It is important, when addressing exposure, to mention explicit content. Explicit content plays a tremendous role in this problem with exposure. With children being exposed to explicit advertisements, television, and people at a young age, what can we expect to come out of them as a result? The realistic truth is, what goes in comes back out. When we intentionally or unintentionally expose a child to explicit content, you can expect the same thing to come out as a result. Not only is the exposure a problem, but also what the children do with that exposure. They typically find that these things are rare amongst their age group finding them, therefore, cool or interesting. Finding them this way, they spread them to other people of their age group, with no problems or threats in mind. After they spread, the parents soon find out and it then creates an awkward situation that must be dealt with. You either sit down and talk about these problems, or you let them fester and boil within your child. The risk of leaving them, is they may end up growing stronger and stronger as your child progresses maturely. The problems with approaching them is, it may cause the child to become more curious about them because they are obviously bad. With these two solutions being potentially dangerous, what do we do? We kill the problem where it started, the roots.

By addressing the problem where it started and enlightening the child on the truths behind these things, it can help to eliminate the curiosity that grows as a result. The problem is the lack of initiative by our parents and authorities over this problem. It has come to the point where being exposed to these things at an early age is a normal thing now. A common excuse is that your child is "just growing up". Although this is true, this is no reason to justify a lack of protection over your child. The problem just grows when it spreads from child to child causing a mass of problems for each parent. The best way to handle this is to keep in check the exposure that your child is getting.

One of the best ways to handle this epidemic is to keep our audience in mind. Whenever you have children, you are expected to filter out some of the bad things you do, if any at all. The problem with holding yourself back is, sooner or later, the real you will break out and show. Small leaks at a time will allow your true self to leak out and stain your child. Whether it is drinking alcohol with your children in the room or watching an adult film with them in the room, possibilities for premature exposure are endless. By doing these things, the youth have an idea that they are cool. "Only adults can do them, so they must be cool," the children say. This problem all starts with the parents. By having children, you should be willing to change for the better of your child. If you are not willing to change, than you can expect your child to be just as good or less good than you are. Every parent wants their child to do better than them, but the thing most parents do not realize is that their exposure to things affects them heavily. If they grow up thinking that drinking alcohol is the cool thing to do, than they will eventually struggle with being an alcoholic. By having that cool and mature picture around alcohol, it makes it attractive to you. Before you know it, you have fallen victim to the same things your parents did. You never know when your child may be watching what you do, but you can always count on them watching. They look up to you as a role model, and you should be able to fit the shoes of a role model. Parents must be the people who are able to teach their children and steward them into a better future than what they had. This is how societies evolve. They climb up the stairs of preparation. The parent always wants better for their kids than they had, so the parent does everything in their power to help and prepare them for their future. What too many parents do not realize is, exposure is a type of preparing. By keeping them safe from pornography, you are preparing a better marriage for them in the future. By keeping them from drugs and alcohol, you are preparing a filter of smart decisions for them in the future. Exposure plays just as big a role as financial or social preparation does in preparing our youth for the future.