Attention All Parents: WAKE UP!

Watch the news and you will hear it, open a magazine you will read it, take a look at the world around you and you can't help but see it: Kids behaving badly. I won't bore you by recounting the many stories of children becoming violent towards others and themselves. I know you are aware that teenage girls are becoming mothers before they are old enough to vote. I trust that you've heard the alarming statistics about young minority males and our justice system. The world around us is deteriorating, fast. Why you ask are the kids today so self-destructive and self-centered? The short answer, insufficient parenting. Most parents are either too lazy, too busy, too scared, or too ignorant to set limits for their children and enforce them. The idea of wanting to be your child's friend is all too common today. My job as a parent is not just to feed, clothe, and shelter. My job is to be involved completely in every aspect of my child's life. There is no area of my child's life that I should not participate in. My child is not a small adult deserving of every privacy, privilege and choice that I have. The relationship between parent and child should resemble a dictatorship, not a democracy. I will never understand the desire parents have to be their child's friend, for surely that is not a part of the job description. Sadly, if you have never heard the words "I hate you" or "that's not fair" from your child, then you may not be doing a good job of parenting. I have no interest in gaining my child's friendship, only his respect. Children don't know what is best for them, nor will they until well into adulthood. I am calling upon all parents. It's time for a revolution! Let's start parenting our children! Let's change the face of our country, our world! I ask you to start with your children, begin today. We can make a difference in the world just by taking a greater interest in our most precious gifts, our kids.