DJ SQWYD  

With the recent exposure to viciousness that can exist within the hearts and minds (both words used loosely) of the youth of today, I’m amazed by the attitudes expressed by many of the adults entrusted with fortifying the future of this nation. Parental defensiveness has led to an unraveling of the very social fabric that assured a forward moving society.  Too often people don’t want to do the things that our parent did to/for us. Now, I’m not just pointing to any of the latest YouTube debacles that have managed to grace every news outlet, newspaper and water cooler conversation. I’m referring to the kids running around the store, interrupting adult conversations, and hanging out on street corners until whatever time. Most of us can remember, although you may still shiver at the recollection, what happened to us if we forgot our place. We also remember how our parents demanded respect and expected us to respect others; and especially other adults!

Many parents treated mischievousness when these terrors were infants as cute displays of an extroverted personality. As time passed, that behavior amalgamated with an understanding of parental “fuse-length” into full blown “bad-assedness!” What makes this most amazing is that if you ask; some will say they want to be “friends” with their kids. They don’t want their kids to be afraid to express themselves and their varying character traits. Now, those seeds have harvested into escalating crime and plummeting academic performance and standards, as well as, an ambivalence towards significant authority (parental). This attitude is induced by the desire to fit-in among a peer group that celebrates such detrimental behavior. And what do most parents do? They defend it; right or wrong and don’t you dare tell them how to raise their kids.