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Highlands Today

Law Enforcement And Teachers Aren't Our Children's Parents

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: March 4, 2009

In a recent front-page story in Highlands Today, it reported on the growing number of calls from parents to law enforcement regarding basic parenting issues, such as getting kids to come in the house or other disciplinary problems. This leaves most people dumbstruck that this is what we have become. It explains a lot of what's wrong in many areas of our society.

Calls to law enforcement come in daily from parents who can't get their children - usually teenagers and pre-teens - to do what they ask. They call the police, and officers respond to talk with the kids and hopefully find some resolution. Can any of us imagine our parents doing something like this? No way.

Children acting this way show a huge lack of respect toward their parents, and it's the parents' fault. Too many parents let anything go with their children at the youngest ages. No one wants to hurt Little Johnny's self-esteem. Too many parents don't want to say "no."

We see the results of this kind of parenting in our schools. Parents often can't or won't believe that Little Johnny can do any wrong. It has to be the teachers, the other kids, the principal, the district and just about everyone else's fault - but not Johnny and his parents.

Parents who raise children like this do them no favors. The realities of life soon will show them that there are consequences, that dodging responsibility won't fly in the workforce and even at the college level.

Some parents believe if they discipline their children they could face abuse charges. If any parent's idea of discipline is beating, torturing or neglecting a child, then yes, they should be arrested. But there are no laws about reasonably disciplining children. They can be spanked, if a parent chooses that method, but that's rarely needed. A relationship built on respect from the earliest days remedies most of those issues - without abuse.

Our law enforcement is there to help us with big and small matters, but they weren't hired to be parents, and neither were our teachers. It's up to the parents to take on that responsibility.

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