--- Merri Pemberton <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > Kids have even admitted that > they have much more to worry about than when their parents were growing up > e.g. heightened school violence. I dunno. I think it's a matter of perspective. Sure kids today have to worry about heightened school violence but kids 200 years ago had to worry about disease and starvation. For many, school violence wasn't a problem because there weren't any schools for them to go to. I don't have the stats but I figure that kids even 100 years ago saw more deaths in their immediate families and friends from lack of good medical care than kids today seeing their friends being shot. I think today, a lot of the worries of the past have been replaced by new worries. For most people, we don't have to worry about the basics: food, clothing and shelter. Thus we find new worries: being popular and the latest fashions. The "little things" start to become less important and we start to focus on the more superficial aspects of life. It's hard to get too stressed over being popular when you don't know if your family's crops are going to be enough to keep you through the winter or if you are working 12 hours a day in a child factory to help support your family. Perhaps a goal of museums is to help people to remember how far we have come as human beings and to give them the "larger perspective" as it were. History and technology museums remind us of how life used to be and to be thankful of the modern world. Art and culture museums remind us of how great the human spirit is and the beauty of the world around us. Natural science museums remind us of the wonders of nature and the world as a whole. All can inspire people to dream and look beyond their petty problems. Museums connect us to the world as a whole and our history in a way that TV, the Internet or even books cannot. There's more in the world than just the here and now. I think people, especially in this day, need reminding of that. Deb __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Health - your guide to health and wellness http://health.yahoo.com ========================================================= Important Subscriber Information: The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes). If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).