Time for parents to be parents

Today there was a summit in Chicago on the issue of school violence. This
was done so that, in my opinion, the politicians could pose for holy
pictures and make it look like they were doing something; when in actuality
they are not. There may be many things which need to be done; but there is
one thing that can have an immediate effect on this issue. What, might you
ask, is that? Well, the answer is that it is time for parents to be
parents.

It is time for parents to actually discipline their children rather than
expecting everyone else to do it for them. It's time for parents to stop
being their children's friend and start being their parents. It's time for
parents to take responsibility for feeding their children rather than
expecting the schools to do it for them. It's time for parents to know who
their children's friends are and what they are doing when the children are
not at home. It is time for parents to set ground rules such as being home
by a certain time. It is time for parents to be involved in their
children's education. It's time for parents to not allow their children to
just hang out whenever and wherever they feel like it. In short, it's time
for parents to be parents. No summit or posing by politicians for holy
pictures will change that. It's time everyone figures that out, the sooner
the better.

By the way a healthy respect for life wouldn't hurt either. Valuing other
people for who they are would be a good thing. Teaching children how to
control their anger and that violence is not an acceptable response would
also go a long way in this matter. The violence won't stop just because the
politicians are meeting to talk about it and just because they want it to
stop. There must be community ownership of the problem and that starts at
the family level. It's time for parents to be parents. It's time for
discipline at school and administrators not being afraid that parents will
get in their way. It's time for parents to allow school administrators and
teachers to exercise discipline.

To be perfectly blunt, if the parents don't want to exercise these
responsibilities, then they should never have had the children in the first
place. That may sound harsh but it's true. If you can't take the heat then
get out of the kitchen. If you can't handle the responsibilities of
parenthood, then don't have children. It's that simple .