I recently wrote about my neighbor’s house being vandalized by teenagers. Now Frosty got “iced” in Slidell, bomb threats made to local High Schools and then all them pesky kids were arrested. Dang, I thought I moved to Utopia??? You see, all these things did happen in my backyard! The back yard of a lovely Louisiana suburb (St. Tammany), not the city! Then again, last week, my friend Merri from Omaha, had to deal with something in her backyard that she thought would never happen.
You see, I don’t have teens yet. I still live in the world where I encourage letters to the tooth fairy, cuddling of their Webkinz at night (9 & 7 y olds) and reading cute little fuzzy bedtime stories. My oldest is 11yo and NO – he does not have a MySpace or a cell phone or is out roaming the streets without supervision. Am I the perfect parent? Heck no! If Dr. Phil put a hidden camera in my house I am sure I would be told I should be institutionalized from time to time. Will my kids ever vandalize a yard? Will my kid call in a bomb threat? Will my kid lie to me? Who knows!!!!! Will I kick their butts and punish them until they make six figures and can support me? Hey, not a bad idea!
Wake up call to all!!!! The world is not perfect, never has been, never will be. “You” are not the most important thing in the world, kids are! These pesky kids will soon be our Army, our police, our firefighters, our (*gasp*) politicians. We can’t afford to look the other way and write any kid off! I was a high school teacher and did my time in “alternative” schools and even worked in a children’s lockdown facility for a short stint…all these pesky kids are ours. It takes a village to raise an idiot (oh wait, I must have that wrong…and no- I ain’t no Shillary fan), it takes a parent to raise a child. But if that parent ain’t emotionally or physically available, we can’t look the other way.
Don’t get me wrong, I can’t tell you how many days I think of putting a stinkin’ bubble over my house and becoming Amish (as long as I can keep my internet). I would shield my little buggers from the kid who popped the inflatable Frosty (though I would be secretly cheering on the sideline). I could home school them and protect them from all “those” kids who teach them bad words on the bus and from bomb threats to their schools. Puh-leeze! I would be institutionalized if I did that! But as I said before, it ain’t about me or you, it is about them. So the Princess of Positive (moi’) wants to know, whatrugonnadoaboutit? (this is where you comment folks)
*this and all future posts can be found at my personal blog and NOLA.com (who is currently contemplating if $200 a month for all this “quality” blogging is enough for the Princess of Positive – HINT HINT!). Holiday shopping ideas here and don’t forget to click my ads and buy stuff!
Where did it all start going wrong? I mean even a few years after I left high school I was shocked at how bad things had gotten with drugs and bomb threats in my alma mater.
People need to stop coddling their children and telling them how wonderful they are when they aren’t. Stop protecting them from failure and the law when they should experience the consequences for their actions.
Teach them how to respect others. Teach them right from wrong.
I recently read that humans are born to be good natured people. It is external factors that create the bad, mean, disrespectful and racist people in this world.
Parents, do your part. Raise your child and those children with whom you come in to contact frequently to be respectable citizens!
Btw, a few teens took down my mailbox last weekend. Well, mine and about 4 others on my street. I never thought I would say this as an adult, “Damn Kids!”