Nickelodeon, a channel for children’s viewing pleasure, broadcast several minutes of a black screen with the words “I Can’t Breathe” in white letters accompanied by the soundtrack of a human inhaling/exhaling. Whether you are a parent or not, rational minds would be jarred by such a graphic and absurd message directed at innocent youngsters whose still-developing psyches may receive such media as a needless indelible jolt. Irrational network producers are responsible for nary a critical consideration, but they put it out there anyway. Is this Nickelodeon’s idea of nurturing? Far cry from “Blue’s Clues” and “SpongeBob Squarepants.”
When a friend shared the Nickelodeon video with me, internal attestations flourished: It is impactful…just not for children who, at early ages, can easily become jaded by such a graphic projection.
Indeed, some will disagree and render personal beliefs that we must teach children. To an extent, that is accurate. To another extent, there are implications of sewing bad seeds which will potentially grow and likely foster mightily scarred young brains; not necessarily a good way to foster a wholesome life course.
Not to deny bad things happen on Earth, yet teaching good far outweighs the polar opposite from kickstarting minds in the wrong lane, metaphorically (or literally) going against the agreed-upon flow of society’s co-existence. Basically, starting with negative messaging (virtue signaling) is in direct contravention to positive information with which to enable manifestations of additional dividends—the difference between paying it forward and selfishness.
As one commenter said in reply to the Nickelodeon video, “Preadolescent brains are much more pliable when they’ve been traumatized prior to 8 years old.”
With that said, and with the Nickelodeon broadcast out there…we exemplify our topic and ideology with geyser gushes of good cop moments. Mind you, none of these poignant police segments are new; rather, they’re only recently hyper-focused stemming from the horrific in-custody death of George Floyd. From darkness, light will always prevail. Put another way: we must exercise the will to open our eyes, even when being stared down by hatred, despair, traitor accusations, and seeming disparity among our species.
Absurdly, Hollywood “stars” are circulating a “petition” intended to “defund the police.” The notion compels a chuckle when I ponder the myriad movies made by these actors who often play roles depicting cops (both good and bad, including the actual “acting”), quite often getting it entirely wrong. We can certainly agree and logically excuse it away as Hollywood’s way of scripting things for the sake of sensationalistic scripts and fantastical special effects garnering box-office gazillions. In essence, though, these oft-touted blockbusters are portraying lies and propaganda fed to viewers who somehow follow the projector’s light like a bug, led to demise by a tale told via untrue means with deposits of sordid storylines compelling brainwashed followers to potentially indulge in self-destructive behaviors.
Now that the junk mail has been dealt with, let’s move on to justify our topic title (gonna be easy; the only labor involves picking and choosing from voluminous real-life examples).
Likely, you may have heard about a growing number of police chiefs and sheriffs leaving the perch of HQ to publicly meet and walk among constituents, all in pretty firm agreement that the in-custody killing of George Floyd disgraced the badge in inexplicable ways. In solidarity, law enforcement executives and their respective front-line’s rank and file cops have genuflected, prayed, and voiced the gut-wrenching emotions in response to one particular Minneapolis cop and three other officers who failed in their duty and betrayed the Law Enforcement Oath of Honor.
That honorable oath is on full display as of late. Despite reports to the contrary, peaceful protests have been transpiring in jurisdictions all across the nation, resulting in calm reasoning, listening, marching together, hugging, and solidarity among diverse groups of people from all walks of life.
Despite the in-your-face contentious demonstrators turning out some ugliness toward America’s cops, many offer gratitude and prayer circles devoted to peaceful means and harmonious public gatherings culminating in mutual resolve. Meeting in the middle is often a wonderful thing…providing no city busses are barreling down the street. Humans are inherently desirous of supporting each other, especially when matters go awry and mutual understanding engenders embrace of doing the right thing for fellow man and woman.
Since we started this article with the development and nurturing of children, it seems natural to punctuate it with youngsters and their welfare during constraining times in our society. San Antonio, Texas police Chief William McManus observed a little boy seemingly saddened by what is going on outside his window—we can all relate. Consoling the boy with words and a reassuring embrace, Chief McManus led the youngster and his parents to a squad of frontline officers for introductions and forays of new friendships.
According to F.J. San Miguel, “During the chaos of two protests at Alamo Plaza, San Antonio Police Chief William McManus shows compassion to a young boy scared [of] current events. The chief took him by the hand and walked with him and parents and took him to and introduced him to the first team of the SAPD mobile field force officers of which the young boy went down the middle of the two columns of officers giving them all high fives. A great chief indeed.”
From our friends at Faith Behind the Badge we offer the following wisdom and heartfelt message: “When you push the narrative that all cops are bad, all cops are dirty, all cops are racist, you harm good people. Please go demand justice, raise awareness, call out criminals, whatever needs to be done to help the innocent prevail and the guilty pay. We can all agree the system desperately needs reform and racism has no place.
“However, you cannot demonize all people who wear the badge by the few who are a disgrace to the oath it carries. There is a heart beneath that badge, one that more often than not holds within the same disgust for evil and injustice that you hold. A heart that stands on the frontlines calling out those who do wrong, constantly pushing for change, and risking their life while doing so.
“You cannot call out injustice while intentionally harming the innocent. It doesn’t birth justice, it simply breeds more hate.”
Just think of our sampling as a mere microcosm of the many positive police engagements happening all around America.
Hands across our nation are on hearts for George Floyd and his loved ones. Enraged eyes painfully view the inexplicable life-taking activities perpetrated by four Minneapolis cops who will duly face justice. Salutes are offered to the thousands of law enforcement officers who go out and dutifully do the job according to their oath.