WHAT’S UP -- steve smith

In 1964, when I was 9, there wasn’t much for kids to worry about. Boys my

age worried about how to avoid girls. Girls talked about the Beatles. On

the serious side, we all worried about “the bomb.”

We worried about the bomb because our parents and others in charge

worried about the bomb. At my elementary school in Los Angeles, we had

“drop drills” to prepare us for an “emergency,” a euphemism not for an

earthquake, but for a nuclear strike -- as though hiding under a desk

would do any good. And at 10 o’clock on one Friday morning each month,

the civil defense sirens would wail for a few minutes just to test the

system. That year, Barry Goldwater got his clock cleaned by Lyndon

Johnson in the presidential elections because LBJ convinced enough people

that Goldwater would push the button shortly after his inaugural ball.

Last Monday, the Daily Pilot asked six kids what big issues face them

today. In brief statements, these local youngsters, ages 9 and 10,

revealed that they had a lot more on their minds than Pokemon or the

threat of nuclear war. In fact, nuclear weapons weren’t even on this

short list, although “Justin” said he no longer wants to fly because of

the threat of bombs on airplanes. I’m with Justin -- a bomb is a bomb.

Earthquakes, the environment and cigarettes were on the minds of three of

the other kids, but it was the common concern of two that was most

revealing: “I think about the fact that a lot of people are talking about

how the computers are going to crash in the year 2000,” said Courtney.

Alejandro, too, was worried about Y2K.

So, I started thinking about kids and stress and how in my kid days there

was no such thing. It wasn’t that the world didn’t have a lot to be

worried about, it was just not the place of kids to be concerned. That

was grown-up stuff and they’d handle it. Whatever it was, they’d handle

it so us kids could concentrate on Mantle and Mays and McCartney.

But today, parents have allowed kids to become victims of adult stress.

Instead of shielding them from our worst fears, we have exposed kids to

them and we’re ruining their health as a result. In America, 25% of

9-year-old kids have a cholesterol count high enough to increase their

risk for coronary artery disease. In the same age group, 21 % of them are

obese.

The cause? Stress. We shuttle our kids from one activity to another to

keep them busy so they don’t fall in with the wrong crowd or otherwise

get in trouble, but the stress of the schedule or the competition turns

this play into work. Along the way, we have forgotten that kids just need

to get dirty outside once in a while and enjoy a carefree childhood. They

don’t always need this adult-supervised “play” to have fun.

Nine- and 10-year-old kids should not be stressed out about Y2K. They

should be thinking about finishing their homework (unless they’re given

too much -- another stress producer) and what is for lunch. But Y2K is on

the radio, on television and on the lips of almost every adult. Kids hear

that and inherit our stress.

Ask their older brothers and sisters, the ones with even more exposure to

stress, and the answer is simple. In a recent newspaper story, “more

affluent” teens who said life is harder for them than it was for their

parents -- noted by 43% in the survey -- said “a sense of too-muchness”

was to blame. There were “too many activities, too many consumer choices,

too much to learn.”

This is not good. Frankly, I don’t care if an adult wants to worry about

Y2K, cigarettes or bombs, but they should keep their stress to

themselves. Please don’t tell me these are opportunities to teach kids

about current events. If that’s true, we have to find a different,

stress-free way of doing it because our current methods aren’t working.

And please don’t tell me that kids can handle it. They can’t handle it

and they shouldn’t.

Instead of giving kids something this holiday season, perhaps it’s time

to take something away. Let’s take away their stress. When we’re with our

kids, let’s slow down and do less. Then perhaps next year I’ll read that

boys are once again worried about being seen with girls.

* STEVE SMITH is a Costa Mesa resident and freelance writer. Replies can

be sent to the Daily Pilot at (949) 642-6086, by e-mail at o7

dailypilot@latimes.comf7 , or to Steve at o7 stsmth19@idt.netf7 .