From the horrific event at the elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut to the Idaho mother who had sex with at least four boys under the age of 16, to the mass killing at the movie theater in Aurora, Colorado to the school shooting in Columbine, Colorado, to the 200 plus children killed in gang violence in Chicago during the last three years – America’s children are dying mentally, physically and emotionally much too soon and unnecessarily. The common thread in this absurd and growing body count is parents.
Parents Just Don’t Understand
Parents – a word that by definition connotes an appreciation and willing acceptance to be charged with the care, training and behavior modeling of our young. Parenting – a magnificent responsibility that is to be welcomed so that society may continue to grow and advance. Unfortunately, the future of humanity is in grave jeopardy because parents are failing miserably.
The More Things Change, The More They Stay The Same
The failure of parents is not a new phenomenon. Parents have failed for many generations. However, the extent of today’s failures are magnified by technological advances and the sophistication of today’s children. When parents fail children today, the outcomes of those failures seem not only to occur with greater frequency but result in more unbelievably absurd catastrophic behavior.
How do two young men purchase and store an arsenal of weapons, plot and kill students and faculty without anyone knowing? Parents. How does a woman prey on multiple underage minors for sexual gratification? Parents. How does a young man alter his appearance to look like a comic book villain, purchase and stockpile weapons, strategize and execute his plan for human destruction without any prior warning? Parents. How do children leave home dressed in gang clothing, brandishing a hand gun, skipping school and carrying wads of cash in their pockets when everyone knows they are unemployed? Parents.
Denial is Not A River in Egypt
Drugs, guns, gangs, alcohol, etc. have all been touted as the reason American children are dying. In the words of Public Enemy, “Don’t believe the hype”. Instead, do yourself a favor and look beyond the obvious and surface reality. As an alternative, reflect on the time you were in school and learned about cause and effect.
The effect on America are dying children. Sure, the indirect cause of those deaths are guns, drugs and alcohol. However, the direct cause is something altogether different. The direct cause is the parents. Parents are killing America, her youth and her future.
Parents are the biggest threat to America.
License Please
America requires training and licensing for just about everything. From becoming a Foster Parent, to becoming a U.S. Citizen, to having the right to drive, to serving as a volunteer coach, there are standardized tests and continuous education requirements that must be satisfied. Ask yourself what is required to be a parent? I will tell you. Absolutely nothing. Nothing except the commingling of a male and a female’s reproductive organs. No amount of brain power, common sense, intelligence, maturity, mental stability, compassion or skill is required. Any vagina and penis will do!
Something is wrong with a society that asks those who work with and serve children to be screened and credentialed but have not even minimal requirements for those having children. If the past several years have shown only one thing – that one thing is that if America is going to survive, if the tragic incidents involving our children are going to come to an end, America is going to need to produce better parents.
The Biggest Threat To America
Perhaps it’s time to require parent education in the same way that we require driver’s education, new citizen education, teacher education and child volunteer education. I can’t help but believe things might be appreciably better for many mourning families and communities if we had some national parenting standards.
This is so true.