--- 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I think today, a lot of the worries of the past have been replaced by new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

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