Have You Checked The Children?

One evening I came home and found a group of boys in a group talking quietly and smoking pot.  They were 13-15 years of age.  It was 10:30 at night.  I wondered,  “ where are these parents?”  “Aren’t they  worried about their children?”  When I went upstairs I heard two rounds of gunfire.  The gunfire was powerful and I wondered if the parents thought about where their sons are.  Maybe the parents did not even hear the gunfire.  I hoped the kids were ok but I also thought about why these youngsters were out so late unsupervised and smoking pot in the open courtyard without a care in the world.     

Another evening I saw a very large group of boys and girls, again preteens, smoking pot.  This was a boisterous group.  All I could literally see is a pot filled haze of young people tumbling all over each other and smoking pot.  Some of the boys and girls were hanging all over each other.  Some of the girls were sitting in the boys lap and the boys were rubbing their thighs – preteen kids!  If mom came downstairs and saw this what would be her reaction?  This took me back to a news story I saw about an 11 year old that was fatally shot in a basketball court at 4am.  His mother was, of course, crying.  I wondered how she could let her child stay out so late. 

I am a teacher.  My preteen students come to school tired often enough.  When I ask them why, they say they were “hanging out.”  They admit they are out until 3 or 4 am.  If you really love and care about your child, why are they out until 4am?  What can happen to anyone who is constantly on the street until the wee hours of the morning?  How can your child function in school with so little sleep?  I have found that the children who stay out late and are unsupervised are the students who have the most academic problems.  Who is raising your child?  Being a parent is the most important job I know.  Children do not come with instruction manuals.  One false move and your child can be gone forever.  This is the case no matter what kind of parent you are. No matter how intelligent, what kind of judgement can an inexperienced unsupervised preteen have?  So why increase the odds of endangering your child by letting the streets raise him/her? 

Children need structure, love, and a strong foundation.  They will not get that in the street.  Who will protect your child from the elements in the street.  Nobody will protect or care for your child better than you can.  Being a parent is not a right but a privilege.  Children are not mini adults.  They need to be nurtured, protected, and guided.   I have seen, first hand, how these kids try to make their way in the world.  A world where they are exposed to dangerous adult situations and they have to make decisions based on their limited knowledge of the world.  Unfortunately they are not equipped mentally or emotionally to make a sound decision and they have no adult to help them.  So they make it with their limited knowledge of how the world works.  Then they have to pay a penalty.  These students risk the chance of being caught in the clutches of a predator.  This predator prey’s on a child who is hungry to do what is right but gets caught up with the wrong person who will lead them to a path of despair.

 Others are fortunate enough to find someone who is willing to take the time to help them.  They are the lucky ones.  I have seen these students.  They are hungry to find an adult who will help them navigate life’s tricky waters. Funny, I have seen even “half baked” adults step in and try to help.  A child knows when an adult is sincere.  They will follow this adult because they know at least this person cares about them.  That will go a long way in a child’s life.  An adult with a good heart but not enough life experience is better than nobody.  But, personally, I think the parent is the best person for the job.  Do you know where your kids are?  Your answer should be yes, of course.  These thought are just the first of many to come.  I think this is an important issue we should all get behind.