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My knee jerk reaction is to say "No Way." I am a huge believer in personal accountability and I believe that the lives we currently possess are the culmination of the myriad of choices we have made during the course of lives. That being said, I recently welcomed my 19 year old nephew into my home, and the experience has shaken (if not shattered) all of the previous beliefs I have had on the nature vs. nurture argument. I lived with my nephew from the time he was born until he was approximately 11 years old. At that time, I moved to the next town and I basically saw him on weekends. Three years ago, I moved to another state and our interactions were limited to holidays and family vacations. When I received a call from my sister this past October, imploring me to take this young man into my home, because he was "out of control" I was shocked. What could possibly have happened? I practically raised this kid. I drove the 300 miles to pick him up, and as we drove home, he told me story after story, about the events that had transpired in his life over the past three years. I was shocked again. He told me stories of drug use, street fights, brawls, and other criminal activity. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. He had come to accept the life of his idols Little Wayne, and T.I. as being the normal and worthy of emmulation. They sang about riding around in pimped out cars smoking pot and engaging in criminal activity for money. So...that's what he and his friends did. "It's all part of the struggle", he was telling me. The problem is, this kid is from the suburbs and thanks to the efforts of his mother and my family, he has never struggled a day in his life. But, he believes that the world as it is painted so graphically in rap music is the world that he is supposed to live in. He accepts violence as not only normal, but desirable. In fact, he told me he wouldn't date a girl who couldn't hold her own in a fist fight. How sad. He wasn't raised with those attitudes, beliefs, or examples, but he holds them nonetheless. I used to listen to hip hop and rap music, and really enjoy it. To me, it was like listening to an audio book. I could get into the stories and the characters. When I heard the bravado of 50 Cent, I took it for what it was. Shtick. When my nephew heard it, he took it for what is wasn't. Gospel. I still believe in personal accountability. I still believe that ultimately people do what they choose to do, and when pressed I will always choose nature over nurture. But this experience has given me pause. Through the nurture of rap music and hip hop artists, the nature of my once lovable, affable middle class nephew has turned into violence and thuggery.

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