Principal Message
Be Kind, Be safe, Be respectful, Be responsible, Be resilient, Be ready
Dear Parents and Carers
Are you a victim of “Affluenza”? On the cover of a book that bears the same name, there are some clues that might assist your self-examination: “Our houses are bigger than ever, but families are smaller. Our children go to the best schools that we can afford, but we hardly see them. We’ve got money to spend yet we are further in debt than ever before. Rates of stress, depression and obesity are up as we wrestle with the emptiness and disappointment of the consumer life.” Ring any bells?
Yet most of us would believe that more money means more happiness. However, when we reach the financial goals that we have set we find that we do not feel any happier, except perhaps fleeringly. But instead of questioning why this is so, we probably engage in a thought process that is something akin to what the authors suggest: “I hoped that getting to this income level would make me feel contented. I do have more stuff, but it doesn't seem to have done the trick. Obviously I need to set higher goals. I’ll be happy when I’m earning an extra $10,000 because then I’ll be able to buy the other things I want.” (Not need.) Research tells us that, though we are three times richer than we were in the 1950s our levels of perceived happiness and contentment in life are lower.
Quite often, those who suffer most are the children who are deprived of contact with parents and consequently are deprived:
-of proper development of self-identity and self-esteem- “My parents don’t think I am worth spending time
-of a sense of belonging and self-worth-” My parents think they can fob me off with the best of everything material when what I really want is physical contact, personal conversation, and direct love.”
-of a sense of being valued as a unique human person, to be cherished and showered with affection- “You know my parents told me and my sister that we cost them so much each to raise and if they didn't have to spend all this money on us, they’d be rich.”
The psychologist, Tim Kasser tells us that, “Materialistic values of wealth, status and image work against close interpersonal relationships and connections to others, two hallmarks of psychological health and high-quality life.”
A final word from the authors: “As a society surrounded by affluence, we indulge in the illusion that we are deprived. Despite the obvious failure of the accumulation of material things to make us happy, we appear unable to change our behaviour.”
Are we all victims of Affluenza?
Keep Smiling
Cathy
