brave + proud

[dannyday5821]

without sounding sarcastic or anything, which this will unfortunatley - i was wondering...when parents of kids, say with lukemia or cancer, or have no limbs, or something extraordinary, why do their parents refer to them as brave, or proud? im not dissing them in anyway, just trying to understand. these terms to me dont seem to make sense.

a parent would say their kid is "brave" if they have saved their dads life by running in front of traffic to stop their dad from getting knocked down. how does bravery account for a kid with say no arms or legs? their was no choice involved for the kid, they didnt choose to be born this way. a soldier is brave if he dodges motar fire to save a comrade though, he chose to put his own life at risk. that makes more sense.

why is a parent proud of their kid if they got through cancer? they might be proud if they are a genius at 10 fair enough for example.

if anyone has a kid whos been through alot and suffered alot, seriously, no disrespect, im just trying to understand what people mean when they say these things thats all.

[bednobs]

do you know, ive always wondered too - maybe when they say brave they mean the child dosent moan a lot about their predicament? (although that is really just non-moany) I also think when people say things like "i wouldnt have got through it without you" what alternative they mean - they would have just expired?

[SRH]

I'm a journalist and we always try to avoid refering to people with illness as 'brave' unless there are extraordinary circumstances (they're raising money for others despite their own illness etc).

But sometimes I think it just comes down to our own awkwardness about illness and uncertainty about how to describe people going through it.

Brave is a suitable general term that doesn't cause offence and, the truth is, might give some comfort to those who are ill and their families. No one wants to hear about a 'moaning, self-obsessed' ill child, even if that is the truth (and who could blame them if they're facing such a thing?)

By labelling someone 'brave' we are perhaps distorting the truth, but if it helps the person, then that's not such a sin.

[JockSporran]

I suppose by 'brave' they just mean that the kid faces up to the world in spite of their predicament or disability and don't let life or society dishearten them.

[unrulyjulie]

I think children handle these illness's better than adults and i guess that its the way they face things that is brave!

They have an amazing ability to just "get on" with it! To me, that makes them brave and any parent who watches their child fighting for life is going to be proud of the way they handle it! I know i would be but then again, it doesnt take much for parents to be proud of their kids! :-)

good question dannyday and you made your point well without sounding sarcastic and unsympathetic.

[Lonnie]

Hi danny,
My daughters Autistic, and she doesn't know she's different, so your question doesn't apply to her, but because of her, we go to many meetings with various disabilities, pysical and mental, and see many others with just the sort of handicap that you mention,

I believe, the replies you've got from jock and julie just about sums it up, their attititude,

[velvet lady]

your parents must be proud of your spelling!

funny question for xmas eve!!! its an obvious answer!! if u r were 6 years old with a poorly kid, of course they are brave for tolerating the sh((t they have to without moaning about it

try a spell check or read your questions, its annoying to read such poor english

u r brave for posting it!!

happy xmas xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

[REDHEAD24]

he likes a reaction