Clock is ticking on bringing up good kids

Walking throurgh the mall one day, I had a “Twilight Zone” experience. It was so surreal, so unbelievable that I spent the rest of the day with my chin on the floor.

A toddler in diapers was wobbling quickly in my direction. A mother with an infant perched at her hip called to him from a nearby store, “get your (insert swear word here) butt back here!” The child stopped, defiantly turned around and, swore at his mother. Without blinking an eye, the mother swore right back, saying, “Now get over here!”

I was frozen in my tracks. I don’t know how I must have looked, but the mother caught my eye. She gave me a neck swivel and an expression that read, “What are you going to do about it?” I had to look away. I busied myself by intently studying the bras at Victoria’s Secret as my peripheral vision watched her drag the boy away. When they were out of sight, I hurriedly made my escape.

I think about that day often. I wonder about those two children. Years from now, when I am walking to the grocery store from the retirement home, will I be mugged by one of them? Will my adult son be shot in front of the 7-Eleven by the boy in the diapers all grown up? Right now, in this time and in this space, what is my role? In remembering that woman’s, “what are you going to do about it” expression, I wonder what I could do about it now.

Preventative tactics have for the most part been dismissed. Budget cuts have forced schools to end before- and after-school programs. Art and other enrichment programs have been left by the wayside. Organizations bent on helping children are left to beg and scrape for funds, and all the while we “tsk tsk” and wait for the government to come up with a solution.

Well, the clock is ticking folks. These kids aren’t getting any younger, and the parents cannot always be counted on. Have we gotten so darned politically correct that we cannot voice our concerns and say, “hey young man, pull up those pants” or “cover that midriff before some boy gets the wrong idea!”

What would happen if we took the reins? Cliche I know, but it does take a village to raise a child, and if a parent is lacking then is it not our duty to step in, financially as well as in social situations?

I would be willing to pay $10 a month or more to keep a community center going. Ten dollars from everyone in my community (previously known as Greenacres) might be enough to support, or help support, a place where kids can go to learn what they are not being taught at home. I’m talking about respect, empathy and discipline.

It is so much easier to just sit around in hopes that things will get better. After all, we’ve survived childhood, and things weren’t so different back then, were they? Yes, I think they were, and no, I don’t think things will get better.

I wonder where that potty-mouthed little boy in diapers is now, and what is his mother teaching him. I can only hope that as an adult, his contributions to society will be positive. Perhaps a brave individual (unlike me) will step in, give that mother a piece of his/her mind and change the direction that a little boy is walking.