It's a Parent's Responsibility to Socialize Their Children

In the real world, socialization begins in early childhood when a toddler learns to differentiate between Self and Others, and his focus begins shifting away from the 'I' and to how the 'I' is related to his surroundings. In this process, he eventually learns there is a difference between a right and a privilege, and that for each, there is a responsibility attached.

In some instances, however, youngsters are not taught these most basic facts of functioning in life and society because the adults in positions of authority have never fully learned these facts themselves. When youngsters are given the message that everything in life is a matter of "choice," with no bearing on conscience or concern for consequences, we are breeding another generation into antisocial behavior.

The word itself is widely misunderstood and misused as slang jargon-- it does not mean one does not like people or social activities; it is the modern term for what used to be called a psychopath: one whose primary characteristics include the belief that rules and law do not apply to him, and the blatant disregard for the rights and feelings of others. "Antisocial": unfit for society. And those who continue to assert that they had 'the right' to spend their youth engaged in promiscuity, drug and alcohol abuse, and assorted illegal activities, come of age with no means by which to be fit influences on the younger generation.

A teacher named Mr. William Leonard instructed his fifth-grade students that the word "liberty" means using one's freedoms within the context of the law, and without violating the rights of others. Pop jargon of everything being a case of "choice" and "do as you will," however, has distorted the socialization process of the young to where they see no difference between right and wrong, the use of conscience, and what is socially-acceptable behavior, into an ever-growing poison where both youth and middle-aged alike live their lives as if morality is an outdated joke and such things as justice, fair-play and compassion are unfamiliar concepts.

Is it "o.k." to breed new generations whose beliefs, attitudes and behavior make them unfit for society, having nothing to contribute but more chaos? Is it "o.k." to promote the message to youth that the only authority is one's own will, that life need not consist of anything more than running on base animal instincts-- as if human beings were not intended to be on a higher plane than the animal kingdom where conscience and morals do not apply?

Animals run on will; humans are meant to be more educated, knowledgeable, concerned, and, yes, driven by conscience rather than instincts. Animals have no concern for what is lawful, what is moral; humans are to have a higher awareness and mode of behavior. But when adults fail in their responsibility to socialize their children and the children themselves enter adult age without such preparation, who is there now to impart this most basic foundation to today's youth?