Dot-to-Dot

How much fun it used to be to connect the dots outlining a picture that (allegedly) did not come into focus until the last line was drawn. Even when the final picture was obvious, the fun came from pretending it was not so the game could be played.

Dot: a TV pundit lamenting the loss of morality in today's young people.

Dot: a young girl, age 10, screaming at her mother that she's not going to wear what her mother has selected for her as it's ugly. When her mother directs her to wear the outfit, the girls screams, "You shut up!"

Dot: survey results show that 90% of all high school students not only admit that they cheat on a regular basis, but that they don't think it's wrong to do so because parents and colleges put too much pressure on students to get good grades.

Dot: a financial analyst stating that if the government is not going to put conditions on the use of bail-out money, corporations would be crazy not to get as much money as they can, even if they don't really need it.

Dot: Rock of Love's female cast screaming the "f word" at one another, while one female avows that she's asking nicely and with respect for the other women to get the "f" out of my "f-ing" room.

Dot: female talk show moderator discussing how wrong it is for anyone other than a parent to discipline a child because it disrespects the parent's childrearing decisions.

These dots are not difficult to connect: if we fail to raise our children, we fail society. There are standards; there are expectations; there are values that allow society to function, governments to govern, and families to flourish. Even when societies have differences, they share common values idealized by the Ten Commandments, other religious precepts, or even the simplicity of the Golden Rule, values that strengthen us as a people, as well as individuals. If, dot by dot, we disavow the commonality of values that establish and maintain standards that benefit all, we will never see the finished picture, just a series of meaningless jagged lines.