What have we done to our children?

I really hate feeling like I'm preaching from my soap box, but guys, I am about to have a complete come apart with some of these kids!
I know that most of you who grew up in my generation were quite petrified of the repercussions from your parents if you did/said something wrong. I know I was and I never got in trouble (sssh, Mom!)!
Heaven forbid another parent tell me that Julien did/said something wrong, he would seriously regret it. I would expect another parent to tell me if there was a problem, but not every parent is approachable and there are those that would swear their little Suzy did nothing wrong and "how dare you...blah, blah, blah", you know those parents...

Well, let me just tell you what Julien is having to deal with.
When Addie and I pick Julien up from after school care, Julien always runs right up to me, grabs Addie and takes her to see his friends. I was signing him out and watching through the window in the office. I couldn't tell if someone said something wrong, because Julien turned and walked in the office with me. I asked him if everything was OK and he said, "yes". I believe him, but it opened up the conversation. When we got in the car, I asked if he had any problems with kids saying anything about Addie. He told me that he didn't want to tell me because he didn't want me to cry. I told him I was fine and to tell me what was going on. Apparently, a child that I have known since preschool made a comment to two other kids and those two approached Julien. I can't even put in print what they said, but nothing short of caning them would make me feel better (it works in Singapore). I told Julien that we both knew things like this would happen. That as Addie's brother, he will have to always deal with situations like this and that we had to come up with ways to handle it when it happens so that Julien could let these kids know that they would not continue to be hateful. In the midst of the conversation, Julien asked me what it meant when somebody said that another person was a "reject".
Wow.
My composure started to waiver at that point. Who lets their kids act like that?

I started telling Julien the story of Johnny Stallings and how although he was mentally delayed, he changed this world for the better. I explained to him, that yes, there were plenty of people who thought that Johnny was a reject and that Addie is too...but that those people are not worth having in our lives and that God is watching and he knows the evil and good in people. I told Julien that we don't know what Addie's intelligence and abilities will be, but that regardless of that, she will have a special quality about her that will set her apart and that makes her special. I can only pray that she impacts this world like Johnny Stallings did. I told Julien that although Addie would have to work harder to learn things, that it didn't make her stupid, the people who were saying these things about Addie were the people with the problems. I'm tired of ignoring these hateful kids. As a society, why do we let them think it's OK to be such rude, ignorant brats? For those parents that actually care about your children's actions, please take a moment and remind them to be kind to others, especially those who need to be protected and those who need a little extra help in their lives....where did that compassion go? Did that go out the door with corporal punishment in schools? Geez Louise people! My G rated blog is about to turn R rated...