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Why I can't seem to make up my mind and keep changing it. |
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Entry for May 15, 2006 Parent Mentoring 
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From today's News-Herald Community Forum
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ME said:
You are 100% correct that these kids are traveling down the wrong path, but perhaps this is the only path that they know. Have you ever considered volunteering a little of your time to mentoring some, or even one, of the many troubled youth which reside in Panama City? What if you could make a difference in one childs life by showing him that there are other options; would you be willing to do so?
And before you ask; yes I have.
Hi Me,
Actually it's "I said," but that's close enough. This is METOO -- I agree with everybody. Is it OK to call you Em instead of ME so I don't get us mixed up? Some people like Panama and me (I mean Stan) don't understand sarcasm because we are so unsarcastic. I've been told that if I ever bit my tongue I'd die of acid poisoning! If you check out my blog on the Boot Camp Case www.stanclark.us you'll see what they mean. And no matter how sarcastic I seem, never forget; I'm still holding back.
Seriously, your comments above about the value of a youth mentoring group here in Bay County hit a chord with me and, I think, PT as well. The boot camp tragedy has hurt us all already. It was closed rather than revised and that is a great loss to us all, black and white, parent and child, as well as the community at large. I don't believe in physical discipline as punishment for children -- only for spouses. Scratch that!
Not only have we lost the boot camp to reduce juvenile delinquency but Bay County Supervisors also rejected its replacement (STAR). Now we have nothing. STAR will probably be just another expensive failure also because the government is running it. The Juvenile Justice System is a complete failure, IMO. Parenting is too important of a job to be left up to an inefficent corrupt state government. This job must be done by NGOs (non-governmental organizations) like Big Brothers/Sisters, the Scouts and even more. What Bay needs more than a youth mentoring program is a parent mentoring program because that's the source of the problem.
We need a group made up of parents with 'troubled' kids and parents who are successful in disciplining their kids, along with their kids, of course, and that group should include all
so-called minority groups: Black, Mexican, Arab, Democrats and Whites. Was it Hiliary that said it takes a community to raise a child? Surely she's said something that makes sense by now -- she's a senator! OK, I was being a bit sarchastic. Nobody's perfect, especially me.
I have had difficulty in the past with one-on-one mentoring because of the problem of potential child sex abuse and accusations. And mentoring a kid to get to know their single Moms. I have no shame. I don't know the answer. All I know is that everybody supports our troops and supports what's best for our kids, and in my case, grandkid. This requires cooperation and working together by all factions, not demonstrations by hate groups. Love group protests are OK.
Parenting is too big a job to be left to cheap politicians. Sorry, that's redundant. I think I'll put this on my blog, www.stanclark.us
What do you think, Em? Panama? |
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