Post Scripts: Kids must be carefully taught

Its been a rough season for children in the Kansas City region this winter. Just one tragedy after another. The bad news has ranged from babies dying in fires to accidents involving youngsters whose mothers weren’t watching them closely enough, gossiping with neighbors, in a nearby tavern, or cavorting with a boyfriend.

One of the saddest incidents of all was the little boy who was dragged to death in his family’s car. The culprit was a black man who just that day had been released illegally from jail. I purposely wrote "black" man just to remind you that last year three "white" men dragged a black man to his death in a Southern state.

I am a sentimental fool. Reading about that little boy’s death, and seeing his anguished mother interviewed on television, definitely got to me. I have to admit I shed a few tears. I don’t know if America can claim greatness when one considers the things happening to its children these days. Yes, I’m nearing 82 and perhaps considered an "old fogey," but if my mom and dad had given me as little supervision as many youngsters receive today, I’m confident I would have been in trouble, too.

There was a syphilis outbreak among teenagers in Georgia last year. The shocker is that over 100 kids required treatment and they were all white and from wealthy families. A nurse was heard to say: "White kids just don’t get syphilis," as she helped track down the mad couplings of these upper-middle-class kids gone secretly out of control. She really didn’t mean to sound racist. It was a case of good kids gone bad with too much money, too much free time, too little supervision and nothing to do.

This led to girls as young as 13 having sex with three boys at the same time. There were drugs, liquor and bad company, the kind most think exists only in minority communities where "people don’t know any better … but white folks, never."

This past year’s school shootings are further evidence and examples of neglect by parents of the activities of their offspring. The truth is that children with white skin can behave just as badly as the children of color. The father of one of the girls involved, 14 and involved with drugs, booze and multiple couplings, said she did these things because she "craved acceptance."

Television and movies must share the blame for such problems, but parents as well must share responsibility for instilling the right values in their children. I was not a perfect child when growing up, but I have never forgotten the punishment I received for doing things I shouldn’t have. My parents were sometimes severe, but not abusive, and upon having children of my own I came to understand that punishing a child is not happy duty for Mom and Dad.

In those days we had "community." Today community, as trite as it is — being all of us, teachers, uncles, aunts, grandmothers, grandpas, ministers, priests, policemen, neighbors, friends — all of whom have to be concerned, have to care, at least a little bit. Somewhere along the way, community got lost in the shuffle.

Community includes black kids, Latino kids and Asian kids and that ever so wonderful group we insist on calling white kids when the fact is they are all our kids, young Americans facing the same materialistic vacuum that can only be fixed by "community." Most of us realize, I think, we raise children with what we call values, knowing full well we are never in control when they are not at our side, no matter how many controls we put in place. The children of all colors have "to be carefully taught," more than ever in these times.