The question we really need to ask here is who’s really to blame for crime and drug use amongst our teens:
Single parent households though some can be considered one of the many causes of crime, drugs and teen pregnancy; this epidemic can happen in households where both parents are present, the rich, the poor, and single parent or married parents. It depends on the upbringing and how the parents interacted with their children while their children were growing up also outside influences and peer pressure can influence how your children mature if they are around bad influences they will take on those characteristics also. There are many single parents that raised their child or children by themselves and do a good job and encourage their children to grow up to be doctors, lawyers, policemen but there is also those single parents households that the parent was too young to have children and because of the immature they don’t really know how to raise a child. They may feel like they missed out on living their teenage years and doing things that young adults get to do or they are just bad influences on their child or don’t treat their child the way they should and often the innocent children get lost in the process and basically have to raise themselves, the child gets lost and becomes unproductive members of society.
There to, are children that grew up with good and loving parents with all the perks of privileged children that can end up being drug addicts, strippers and gang bangers. Part of the reason could be that the parents are trying to give their children and themselves the luxuries they are used to, working many hours, too busy working and the child or children are often left home alone at a young age without adult supervision and nothing to occupy their time. This is a very vulnerable time in their lives because they are trying to find a place they fit in or belong, sometimes they get involved with questionable people because they show them attention or are there more then their parent are so they feel that this is where they belong or they are company so they wont have to be alone. We need to realize that it doesn’t matter what your race, social status or religion it only takes one bad influence to change your life for the worse and until we realize this is a major problem it’s not going to get any better but much worse, the crime rate will continue to rise and teen pregnancy and death from violent crimes against each other and society will become more common placed in suburbs and inner city and no one will be prone to it.
Change has to start at home and parents need to be available for their children especially during the after school hours, if a child is younger than the age of 16 it’s not good for them to be home alone without supervision this can lead to them associating with questionable friends who could be involved in gangs, drugs and sex and the parents won’t know until it’s too late. It’s important for us as parents to checking in as much as we can to insure that our children are doing their homework and are doing what it is that they are expected of them, in order to have children that are productive members of society we have to be involved both at home and at school. In a realistic world we would be able to all work and stay home with our children but wouldn’t hurt to have your children stay with family or friends that can keep an eye on them until you are able to take on the parent role again, your child or children could join the Boy and Girls club or YWCA or YMCA and participate in swimming, karate or a basketball league they could even volunteer with after school programs to help their younger peers with homework and recreation. It’s going to take us all working together as parents, teachers, coaches, and the community the way parents did back when we were children the crime rate and teen pregnancy and drug use could possibly go down. You are probably thinking, “This is not my problem?” It’s your problem and everyone’sproblem because we have to pay the taxes for those children to remain in prison or the people that are on welfare, for drug rehabs; wouldn’t you want to make a difference in a young child’s life now rather than to have to pay taxes for their mistakes?
