I know that it is hard to balance work and family, especially in today’s economy where many households need two incomes. Parents need to make it a mission to be there for their kids in any situation. It seems the more lax people are about teaching their kids the true values of life, the more the world goes to shit.

So many young people do not know what it means to respect your elders even if you disagree. They do not know how to take responsibility for their actions or to just do a kind thing for a person in need because it makes you feel good.

Why and when did parents stop teaching these important values? When did the kids become “the protected ones”?

There is so much garbage out there saying that you should not hurt your kids feelings, you should not discipline them, you need to sugar coat the world for them. Maybe if parents started being tougher on their kids we would not have 11 year olds shooting their pregnant stepmothers. Teach them to take responsibility for their action whether it is good or bad.

We have always taught our kids that respect is key and if you give it, you will receive it. We make sure that if there are stories out there about kids doing wrong, we discuss that with them. We tell them why that behavior is not acceptable and how many people it hurts in the process. We teach them to be kind to others and do nice things for people without expecting anything in return. The biggest value we push is responsibility.

Spend time talking with your kids. Make it known that they are our next generation.

The summer has been full of stops by the police and area officials telling him he can not use their property. We live down the road from the township and across from the local park. The township kicks him out of the parking lot even after they are closed for business. The township park across the street only has a small parking lot to skate in and it is always full of cars. The local shopping center has a few small places that are not traveled by people or vehicles, but he was told he would destroy property so he could not skate there either.

I understand some of this to a point, there are kids that “skate” who are punks, but our kid just wants to skate! That is in his heart, it is all he talks about…being like Ryan Sheckler ….one day. The nearest skate park to us is over 30 miles away, so he just continues to look for a place where the people are nice and they have good blacktop….