The Willie Lawson Show  

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• Archived Blog Post

  Date / Time: 4/15/2008 12:17 AM UTC

  Good Kids?
  

  Good Kids?

  Who are the good kids? Are the good kids the ones that get drunk and crash their cars into trees? Then we sob uncontrollably at the funeral. And all over we hear, "He was such a good kid." Is the good kid the one pregnant with her 3rd child? She has such a pretty smile and always seems so nice. And as she waddles around campus you can hear, "tsk tsk, She is such a good kid." Is that the kid. Is the good kid the we find out over the weekend has been taped robbing a 7-11? Who are the good kids?
  
  It seems to me in the past 20 years we as a culture has changed the defintion of what good is. In particular when it comes to our kids. Everything seems to be in some level of good as compared to the neighbor's kid. For instance, " At least my son doesn't do hard drugs, we just caught him smoking pot. He's a good kid, he just fell in with the wrong crowd. He's really a good kid." Well I got news for you, so far in this country smoking pot is against the law! That makes your son a criminal, which precludes him from being a good kid! Good kids don't smoke pot!
  
  I was talking to a woman recently that has decided to get birth control pills for her 16 year old daughter. I was really taken aback at first and then I thought, maybe she was having trouble with her period. So I asked the mom about it, she told me that her daughter was not havimg prolems with her period,it was because her daughter was having sex. I was amazed. This mom loves her daughter. She is very proud of her that they have the lines of communication open in these matters. I like this lady, she is very nice. But her 16 year old is unmarried and having sex. Can she still be in the good column? I know her mom will dis-agree with me. But I think not.
  
  Where I work we have had a child die in an automobile accident every year for the past 10 years. Every year we have been open. A number of these children had been known for speeding and reckless driving. They skip school, they chew tobacco, they drink, they have sex and then they die in a automobile accident. Then at the funeral, someone always calls them a "good kid." I know I sound harsh, but what about the good kids?
  
  What about the kids that do what they are suppose to? What about the kids that are getting good grades and not having sex and not drinking and not doing drugs and talking back to their parents and are respecting teachers and other authority figures in their lives?!? What about them? They are the good kids! They are the ones that someone has to speak for them! So I will, because their parents won't speak up for them because these kids are doing what they are supposed to be doing. And, parents like that don't expect to praise their kids for doing what they are supposed to do.
  
  I hear every day people asking what can we do to help kids. I hear kids are going down a horrible path to destruction blah blah blah. Well lets start with calling things as they are. Lets line up our good kids and our not so good kids. That way we know who needs help and who needs praise. Lets all stop being friends to our kids and start being parents. Parents that are friendly, but parents first! Lets learn this word, NO! Not lets learn this phrase " what you are doing is wrong and I will not have it in my house!" Parenting is not for wimps. Be strong, your kids need yo
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Comments

Flag Gazer 4/27/2008 5:43 PM UTC Excellent piece! As someone who worked at colleges for over 20 years, I have seen the pattern become broader and more encompassing, and the truly good kids are shoved aside - along with the truly good teachers. Unless we take our schools back and reestablish a culture of respect, no amount of money will make these people educated.

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