5 Trends I Hope Stay in 2015

2015 was an interesting year, no doubt. With a Presidential election looming ahead, terrorist attacks, riots, identity issues and migrant/refugee crises, there was plenty going on. More than enough to ensure most sensible parents only watched the news once the kiddos were in bed.
     Along with rife of events came a handful of cultural trends that, between you and me, I'd be delighted to see quietly disappear with the passing year. In no particular order, here they are:

SELFIE OBSESSION Let's face it, this has become a disease. I snickered when I heard Kim Kardashian released a book containing thousands of selfies, and people actually paid money for it. It became far less funny when people lost their lives in the process of upping the selfie ante. No less than 28 deaths were documented in 2015 in pursuit of selfies, and numerous non-documented injuries. I personally get tired of missing green lights because the doofus in front of me is too busy posing in the car mirror to drive.

SCIENCE OVERRULED BY POPULAR CULTURE I get it, you "feel" like you're something other than you are. I often "identify" as a reclusive billionaire, but that doesn't make me one. Global warming caused massive debates among non-scientific communities to the point it was relabeled "climate change." In 2015, there seemed to be an inexplicable rush to completely ignore the laws of science in the interest of supporting (or opposing) the issue of the day. For those of us who exist in a primarily logical universe, the trend toward spending millions to combat a climate problem the scientific community has yet to clearly identify or force girls to share bathrooms with scientifically defined males is just pure insanity. (Hey, if you want to dress and live like the opposite sex, more power to you. Don't force it on the rest of the world.) Not to undermine the courage (or savvy PR move) demonstrated by Bruce Jenner in sharing his identity struggles, but the reality is that gender is identified by the gametes your body is designed to produce, not by cosmetic changes or your physical appearance. Only certain fish and amphibians are able to change their gender. Not us lowly humans. Science is defined by proven fact, and science defines a female as one who produces ova and a male as one who produces sperm. No matter how you dress, you can't fool science. At least, not today.  Whatever idiot named Jenner "Woman of the Year" needs to head back to biology class.

LEGALIZED ANARCHY Once upon a time I studied criminal justice. I thought about pursuing a career in the FBI or as a lawyer. It has been a repeated source of stomach twisting for me to watch every level of our society accept blatant violation of our country's laws when it suits their personal agendas. We lionize law-breaking thugs like Michael Brown simply because of the color of the skin of the officer who was forced to shoot him. Political figures like Hilary Clinton violate federal law and our media brushes it off as unimportant. It has become socially acceptable for a child to lie about their age online so they can use social media services that are legally limited to 13+, AND PARENTS HELP THEM DO IT. (Tip: That's a form of fraud and is not only a violation of your user agreement but against the law.) People, for our society to function properly, we don't get to pick and choose which laws we'll enforce and which we'll ignore. Teaching our kids that it's okay to lie or break the law as long as we have a good reason is a very dangerous path to set them on.

REALITY TV POLITICS The party front-runners are no less than a pair of socially stunted reality TV divas. Both exhibit stunning levels of narcissism, a blatant disregard for the law, and tween-level social media presence amidst delusions of self-grandeur and their complete disconnection from the American populace. It seems like mud-slinging political tactics have moved from something that once surprised and offended the masses to common place and accepted in the reality-TV-obsessed world 2015 welcomed with open arms. Our own President engages in the childish, finger-pointing, polarizing rhetoric that has hobbled our society with hate and paranoia. It seems there is no issue, no group immune to the sound-bite-focused, financial-agenda-driven machines that seem to be running our country today. The media, once dependable as honest purveyors of factual news, are fully in the pocket of one corner or another, leaving the public guessing at the true qualifications of political candidates. Somehow, the opinions of pot-smoking kooks like Kanye West and Susan Sarandon matter more than those of anyone with a background in finance or political science. Our "Real Housewives" loving society, instead of rejecting it, seems to have accepted it as just another form of reality entertainment. Sigh.

IT'S ALL ABOUT ME Forgive me - I was raised in an era when "me first" was considered narcissistic and damaging to the future success of a civil society. (Just ask the Roman Empire.) I'm absolutely astounded that, at the culmination of the "Hope & Change" political era, our society has become more egocentric than ever before. Almost everyone of the trends above can be explained by this one simple fact: the wants of the individual now outweigh the needs of the many in our society. It has become socially acceptable to bully, insult and deride others whose opinions or needs are in direct conflict with your own. It's perfectly okay to stomp on entire groups of people if their existence doesn't jive with popular culture or the latest political or media-driven agenda. We cheer when the bad guy wins. What the hell is wrong with our society? This trend needs to die right away. We, as parents, needs to focus on teaching our kids empathy and compassion for others, and we need to do it fast.

Let's make 2016 the year we restore sanity to our world. My resolutions as a parent:

1. Teach my kid to follow the rules, even when we don't like them.
2. Teach my kid to think in terms of facts, science, and reality. Feelings, wishes and dreams do not define reality no matter how badly we want them to. Trying to bend reality against the laws of science is a futile act of absurdity.
3. Require civility and humility at all times.
4. Engage my kid in charity work to teach her compassion for others.
5. Punish bad behavior, and mean it. I want my child to learn that it's okay for a cop to enforce the law and that the best way to avoid being on the wrong end of that situation is to obey the law at all times, and that starts with following the rules at home.
6. Talk about it when celebrities and politicians act in ways unbecoming of a public figure. Suggest better ways to be a functioning member of society.
7. Minimize engagement in social trends. My kid has a phone but no front-facing camera. We don't own a selfie stick. 13+ social media sites are restricted on her devices.
8. Reward kindness and respect for others. ALL others.
9. Teach healthy disagreement. Just because we don't agree with someone doesn't give us the right to treat them badly. It also doesn't mean our opinions aren't valid, too. The world isn't black and white.
10. Minimize exposure to reality entertainment until she's old enough to understand the difference in entertainment and actual reality. (Yeah, that doesn't happen until around age 18.)