We’ve all seen them, the honor roll bumper stickers. Honestly, I’m not a big fan. My eldest got one and although his grandmother slapped one on her ride, I refused.

Yep, I win the worst mom of the year award. Seriously, I hate bumper stickers. Not only that, but I find it a little egotistical to say that one child (or their parents) are better than another because of grades. I’m sure this was not the original intention of the bumper sticker, but it does seem to come off that way. Grades are important and we should do all we can to encourage our children to do well in school, but whoever came up with these bumper stickers was probably a little loopy.

So in retaliation of the I’m better than you because I made A’s sticker, there is the “My Kid’s Going To Beat Up Your Honor Roll Student” bumper sticker. And while I think the whole thing is trivial, I have came across other parents that don’t think so. They worry as to how to protect their children from these types of bumper stickers. They worry that we as parents are too desensitized to the media & yes…they say even bumper stickers can inflict confusion and pain on our little ones. Children pay the price.

I will admit that television can contain alot of adult content and some of the shows give me a mouth drop (I reach frantically for the remote when the kids are viewing) I don’t agree with their theory. And while children’s minds are like sponges, I feel them being exposed to certain things in life can actually be a good thing.

I do my best to shelter them from overly vile or adult images and content but I will not lose sleep over them hearing bad language or seeing the bad that people are capable of. I think those are natural and necessary parts of growing up and building their own knowledge of themselves & the world around them. When they don’t see something that they understand, hopefully they will ask me or their father which provide opportunities for us as parents to explain and take away the fear or curiosity factor. In my opinion there’s a fine line between sheltering and over exposing a child. Either one of those extremes can be harmful…just like an honor roll bumper sticker on your car.