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In some of the teen message boards I visit, I have been seeing a distressing resurgence in the number of kids who choose to believe that they are 'Indigo Children'.  This whole phenomena bothers me.  It is a scam that people buy into lock, stock and barrel simply because they want to believe that parenting is easy or that their situation in life really is more special than someone else's.

I have read the pages and I have taken the quizes.  If I bought into this line of crap, I could make the claim that I am an Indigo.  I have strong leadership qualities.  I am a dreamer and I am sensitive to other people's moods.  I am also a strong personality and if I had not been raised with manners and boundaries, I could very easily have been the holy terror that Indigo checklists describe.

Parenthood is not easy, people.  Sometimes kids are hard to deal with.  Sometimes they don't want to learn to live in society because being a naked screaming me-me is much more fun.  But just because kids may not want to be a part of society and conform to societal rules is no reason that they should not be equipped to deal with the people around them.  To deny them the knowledge that they need to prosper in modern society is to cripple them for the rest of their lives.

Like it or not we live in places where you have to wait in line sometimes.  Where you can't just take off all your clothes and run naked through the streets whenever you feel like it.  We live in places where you need to have and know some sort of boundaries.  If you cannot operate within those boundaries, how do you ever expect to survive?

The Indigo and Crystal (and now Rainbow) phenomena are frauds.  While everyone may be special in their own way, you are not more evolved or less human than anyone else.  You are going through all the same problems that everyone else has at your age, and you will come through it just like everyone else has.  Being human is not something to be ashamed of.

People use the Indigo thing as a crutch.  It is an excuse to not grow up and deal with real life and it is an excuse to not have to 'be the bad guy' and discipline their kids. The last generation used the excuse of 'wanting to be their kids' friends', this is just the New Age version of lazy parenting.

Real life is hard.  Parenting is hard.  Setting boundaries and living within those boundaries is hard.  It isn't meant to be easy.  It is through the struggle that you come to know yourself, and appreciate the type of person you are.  Everyone is unique.  Everyone thinks that their child is the most special.  That doesn't need to mean that they are anything other than a beautiful person.

If you really want to change the world, live by example.  Be happy and productive and healthy.  People will follow, even if you never see the fruits of your efforts.

--Phae

X-posted to Phae in Space