Anxiety, hopelessness, difficulty completing tasks, inability to focus — sound familiar? Teachers and counselors recognize these as symptoms of kids living in homes filled with conflict.

My friend Dr. Phil always tells parents they mustn’t involve the children in adult problems. It’s the parents’ job to make kids feel safe. What I want to know is, whose job is it to make this country’s citizens feel safe when the president, the senators and the representatives can’t get along?

It wasn’t until I struggled to write my column for the new year that I realized the negative effect this conflict among our elected officials was having on me.

Despite avoiding the war of words in the 24-7 news cycle and trying to slide past all the posts on Facebook regardless of political point of view, the current climate of negativity weighs me down.

What’s different this time from all the other times over my life when a president and congress had conflicts?

The news cycle and social media are an obvious answer.

How do you avoid hearing the latest speculation when “news” gets forced on you everywhere — home, restaurants, bars, computers and smartphones?

Oh, those smartphones. I’m old enough to have read Dick Tracy comics as a kid and dreamed of a two-way wrist radio. That dream would have been a nightmare if we’d known our friends and family would be reposting hate words and calling us names all day long.

Ultimately, the fault lies squarely in the laps of the people we’ve elected who spend their days shouting and pointing fingers at one another knowing full well that whatever they say and do will be seen around the globe within seconds.

When Mommy and Daddy fight, kids worry about who will take care of them. All that anger leads to neglect of emotional and physical needs.

Our president and our congress are neglecting us.

This country has real needs that require national attention. Our cities and towns are filling up with homeless people, many with untreated mental illnesses and addictions. Our infrastructure needs regular attention and improvement to meet the needs of a growing population. What’s going to happen when antibiotic resistant super bugs put an end to safe surgery?

No wonder we feel anxious.

Parents need to put kids ahead of conflicts. Politicians need to put us ahead of themselves and getting reelected.

Margaret Ludington has lived in Altoona since 1971. She is a retired staff writer and editorial writer for the Herald-Index. Margaret is a mother of two, grandmother of four. She and her husband travel frequently and have visited every state except Alaska and five Canadian provinces.

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