Spring Break
Rappers' delight will cause children's plight
Classify This
Chris Thomas
Issue date: 7/23/04 Section: Ed-Op
- Page 1 of 2 next >
|
When a child is brought into the world, parental nurturing and care are necessary for his or her survival, although more often than not, these children are only given half their support system. When people fail to take on the responsibility of their children that they helped create, it sets a poor example and can only lead to the degradation of a culture.
Some would venture to say that this problem plagues the younger portion of our society, the high school and college students who may not necessarily think before acting. If that's your belief, I implore you to take the time to watch a week's worth of daytime television. If you can watch Judge Hatchett, Divorce Court or just about any talk show except for Oprah for five business days and not see one paternity test, I'll be stupefied.
These aren't just 18-year-olds either. There are 30 to 35-year-old men and women on these shows, pleading their cases for alimony and child support alike, including those who are "deadbeat dads," men who simply disappear, leaving their child and its mother no support whatsoever. Regardless of age group or race, this epidemic's ravaging our nation at an atrocious rate, and the effects are staggering.
As a self-taught pool player, I know that there are certain things that you can manage to master on your own: learning how to play a sport, tying your shoes, even how to develop study habits. Even so, there's usually some model you watch, someone who sets an example in your mind as to the basics for your craft of choice.
How can a young man grow up, however, if there's no man in his life to set that example? Even if that child has a step-father, the connection simply isn't the same, and the biological father has shown his son that it's okay to abandon your responsibility if you don't feel like dealing with it.
Certainly, the wrong place to leave your child for examples on manhood is in front of a television, although that seems to be the method of choice for most parents in the modern era. For some obscene reason, parents seem to believe that upstanding gentlemen such as 50 Cent, Fred Durst or Don King and forthright young women such as Britney Spears, Lil' Kim or Paris Hilton are fit to raise a child, much less their child.
Be the first to comment on this story