by Ray Morrell

Created on: July 12, 2008   Last Updated: July 13, 2008

Our teens are out of control! They need to be locked in a cage starting at the age of thirteen. That's right I said it! Lock them up and throw away the key. Give them food and a few books to read. Teenagers as I have seen so many times in today's society have little or no respect for anything. Most lack respect for adults each other and most of all themselves. There are more pregnant, drug addicted, violent disrespectful teens now more than ever. Are we overprotecting our Teens? Not at all. As a matter of fact I think we teach them to be this way. Between TV the internet and video games, we seem to be teaching them that bad is good. We are in the age of information and if you look around the information that we provide for them is more than less horrible news. What do our teens learn from these days. What they see, experience and hear. Most of which are naked women dancing to the beat of some rap song performed by a thug toting a gun and licking up and down on another women rapping about smoking a blunt in the back of his ride. They watch their sports hero's being prosecuted for drugging to enhance their performance on the field. They watch their friends on YouTube launching 8 month old babies on to the floor by way of inflatable pillow, fights, death defying stunts, and death itself. Trash in trash out!

Teens now have so many different ways of communicating to each other secretly by way of MySpace, cell phones and chat rooms that are riddled with sexual predators and unacceptable behavior. They are being bombarded with spammed e-mails for products such as male enlargement, women on web cams, illegal pharmaceutical drugs, and diet programs. Parents seem to turn a blind eye to what their kids are doing, saying and experiencing. I am a firm believer that technology has now become the unpaid babysitter of our youth. So why not hire Charles Manson the next time you have to leave them alone.
Parents should be held responsible for the actions of their misbehaving teens. If their children are arrested the parents should be too. Yes as harsh as it sounds. It would elevate the teen issues we have in society today. If your teen is arrested for selling drugs on a street corner you should be jailed right along with them. Maybe then as a parent you'll watch them with a keen eye instead of letting them do whatever it is they do when you're not with them. Yes that's right parents would actually have to parent their teens. What a wonderful concept. Parenting! The new technology.
So are we overprotecting our teens? I say not at all. I propose that teens should be required in about the 9th grade to attend a Mothers Against Drunk Driving impact panel, and a scared straight program. Both of which would give them a different perspective on real life. We are trying to ready them for the real world aren't we? So why not teach them the reality of it all before it hits them in the face and forces them to become adults before their time.
Our teens need us now more than ever and we as parents continue to let them down. Pay attention to what they do, need and are screaming out for. If your teen is always on the computer, always texting, always in front of the TV, Always blowing up his friends on a video game and running the streets. Then get involved. If you're asking yourself. What is going on with them? You are not doing your job. You should know everything they do at all times. Stop wondering and be the parent.

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