Protecting Our Youth in Today's Society

I hear tell of a time when it was safe for children to prowl around by themselves with very little supervision. Looking around many parents don't seem to realize the world has changed. Amber Alerts might bring your child home only if it's not too late. It's up to the parents to ensure their children are looked after properly. How can mom and/or dad make certain their children are well monitored? And is it really all that necessary to keep such a close watch on Jr.?

This is an urgent call to all parents/guardians. Toddlers are being taken out of the front yard or wandering away. A two year old boy recently wound up in the woods near his home for a couple of days. Somehow he survived. Your child may not be so lucky. A year or two ago a report was filed against an older child for molesting a younger one in the play area of a popular fast food restaurant. Just a few years ago my friend's seven year old brother was beat nearly to death by an adolescent. Another friend's pre school aged sons were molested by an eleven year old family member. Not to mention convicted sex offenders live just down the rode in many if not all neighborhoods.

That's not all you have to worry about either. A fifth grader was busted when a hyperdermic needle was found in her purse during classroom hours. PBS ran a documentary on a group of high schoolers in an upper income community. The kids would get together and have orgies after school. The result was a major std brake-out involving the teens who participated in the orgies. To make matters even worse girls and boys are having sex as
young as age ten. Gone are the days when the worst you had to fret over were toilet papered lawns and cheating on tests.

We all say it won't be my Johnny or my Susie. You may have raised your child well, but the playground has still changed into a jungle. Negative messages are being played to youth via the media and from kid to kid. So, what is a parent to do? Don't allow children to hang out at houses where you don't know the parents. You don't have to be best friends with all the locals, but at least meet the ones your child visits. Once I went over to one of my four and six year old's friend's houses and saw an open beer sitting on the fire place. The mother, if she can be called a mother, had left a set of long, sharp pointed hunting darts on the living room floor. Luckily, my kids never went there alone and after that we never went back. Know the parenting styles of the other parents involved in your children's lives. Too many times I've seen kids as young as three unattended running around outside with their front doors closed and not a responsible adult in sight. Those kids can come over to my house, but my kids don't got to theirs without me. If you have to open up your house to the area children, at least then you'll know what your kids are doing when they're "hanging out." Always keep your front door open during out door time. That's what screens are for. Young children shouldn't be going to anyone's door unless you take them or watch them as they go. A sick sight was a mother who was prone to loosing her four year old son. She had to drive up and own the street looking for him cause he'd just let his little feet take him on adventures when she wasn't paying attention. Mother's who don't watch their children loose them in one way or another. Certainly, not all abductions and child abuse cases where the abuse happened outside of home are the parents fault, but sadly these days many are. We do live in a world where "it" could happen to anyone. That's why I'm calling all parents to be aware and on alert.

So, monitor your children closely and ask questions. After all asking questions is a way of finding things out. Let your children know they can tell you anything. Block internet porn sites and know your kids' social lives. Speak to them about sex, drugs and don't blame the rock n'roll. It's a parent's job to raise kids; not the media's. Good day.