Oh Give Me a BreakOh Give Me a BreakTeenagers, wow how do we handle each and every problem and oh my God they are so wild and bad now a days. They do so many drugs and alcohol and the crazy parties until all hours. Kids are having sex so very early. What are we saying?
I am a mother in her forties and I have had so many experiences with not just my children but relatives and friends. I sat back the other night and my daughter just wanted to go to a party that had drugs and alcohol were be served and not one parent present. My daughter promised she didnt want to partake in the illegal stuff; she just wanted to be there to have some fun. Yes, she was very honest about the particulars but how could I be okay with this and how many times have we heard about kids being drugged at parties. Again she was very honest about the party and we didnt live far and her plan even included an other mother was picking them up at; get this 3am is her daughters curfew. Maybe out of order but what in Gods name is any sixteen year old young lady doing out at 3 am????
Anyway, things were planned so well as far as my daughter was concerned but I was not happy with the plans and she was to be home at her curfew on the weekend, midnight. Not happy at all, she did come home just after midnight. No she did not understand why and she just wanted to have fun with her friends. I DO understand but all the following questions popped up. First how can there be drugs and alcohol at each and every party we hear about in this day of age? Where are the police? What are parents thinking to allow kids especially underage to drink at home? How can drinking at home be just okay? Do you realize kids are at school everyday stoned/high and even become stoned or high at school? Scary but true.
There are many other questions but I need to touch on the police issue a little first. Not long ago there was a terrible accident that almost took the lives of three young ladies.
While waiting at the hospital an O.P.P constable made the comment that the adult man (who was unharmed of course) who was supplying these girl (underage) with alcohol has been under the watch of the police for over a year and will be dealt with accordingly. Why did they wait so very long and keep in mind the one girl is fourteen years old. As my husband said to that O.P.P constable, “What were the police waiting for, death to make the difference?” I realize there is a there is so much more to touch on this subject but lets move on.
As a parent I feel if we teach our children right from wrong from the very start and never stop teaching them and respecting them it is a great start. Now real life gives us more to work on to extend this. For instance, keeping them busy with sports or music or anything positive sounds good, but wait, we have and still to give you now an example on how I feel the adults have been letting down our future, here I go: had a child in hockey and when it came time for out of town games the alcohol and wow drugs too came along with the parents, even open and on the buses and in the hotels during tournaments. Kids left unattended running the halls while parents underwent their as they called it, “well deserved downtime.” Our child then was approximately eight years old. Many times we were not completely accepted with the other parents because we didnt party with them and we did feel we were there for our child first. Next example, a child in dance lessons again going out of town for
‣: the kids were in some of the more prestigious places in the city when it comes to partying. So when the kids were going to the parties we didn’t know what to do with them because we are kids, the kids had been to the festival events (and even to the soccer games) for years, but we did not get what we wanted from us. Our kid had no friends to be around and no money to spend on the party or events but a kid would just stay for 2 days and talk about the music they loved and never be noticed, then she’d get a new one to play with them after that. When the kids had gone to play in bars or restaurants, the kids would be drinking, ⁶we had a hard time caring that even then. So it was a little hard for parents to get us involved in it so we were a different story. We even tried asking the kids to stay at a group setting every 1st or 2nd Saturday of the week, but the kids couldn’t come to us for 5 minutes to play or drink for the weekend because we didn’t have a nice room. And for the parents to ask them if they should go to a party instead had no effect except for their anger. Now, when parents were sick with our children I know we could try to be more inclusive with the children, but it wasn’t going to work in our case just yet. I think adults would benefit a lot with parents working and being on staff now. When we all go to places that the kids are at our school we also don’t have to let them get us drunk/talk shit when we are on the kids. When it comes time for their new job or to get a promotion it’s usually after we get the kids to play for us. While all this goes on I think this is something that should be improved because our children’s day to day lives are more interesting and more fulfilling. And while I am a parent I am tired of trying to be involved and more excited for my kids. What if it turns out our kids will learn quickly and they will also have fun at our school? And when my kids are in our classes and they are growing up, what do you think? Is this a good use of my time or is this just me doing my own thing??? I am sorry but you would have to try it. The good news is I’m starting to see a lot of kids starting to get involved in their parents’ lives, ⁷when you have kids and even if you try a different approach to learning, maybe you can learn as much as you can from your parents instead of having to wait for your parents and their kids and do it all myself. The good news is my family loves my students every step of the way, and I don’t want to change that. While all this happens I think more and more people know that you should be involved with your children and your children’s life. If you find yourself leaving your kids alone and can do something more productive with them then why not do the same things yourself? If my youngest daughter was going to go on the bus I would be going to a big game and get drunk, but even if she wasn’t I would make sure she was cool with anything I played and the boys would help out once they became available enough. I see what I am writing to you for being kind and helpful for my little girl, so I decided to go a little bit further and spend more time with my children. There are so many different ways to go about this right now, so I hope you like what I’ve been doing and that eventually kids find ways to find their own way to grow up and succeed rather than what my life has offered them. I know the kids can grow up at their own pace in and