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Part
Eight:
THE PLAIN TRUmABOUTCHILDREARING
Children
of
the Inner City
What's the solution for youths who live on the street?
' 'HEY,
let's pop that old
broad, cop the bread
and blow sorne smoke.
Yeah man , let's do it!"
Did you understand what you
just read? Or should we interpret
it
for you? "Let's rob the old
lady , take her money and buy
sorne marijuana."
Tragically, dialogue like this and
the criminal aftermath occur thou–
sands of times each day in teeming
urban areas, especially in the United
States. Even more tragic is that most
of these crimes are committed by
"children" from 8 to 18. No wonder
Isaiah prophesied what he did about
our day: "Cbildren are their oppres–
sors" ( Isa. 3:12, Revised Authorized
Yersion throughout).
Misguided children are turning
our inner cities into war zones of
crime and gang violence. But this
installment is not about child crime,
it's about how to rear crimeless chi l–
dren-children who will not become
statistics in prisons or margues.
Straight children can be reared in a
crooked environment!
The Challenge
It 's not easy trying to point children
in the right direction when every–
thing around them pulls them in the
wrong direction. Yet that's the way
it is in too many neighborhoods in
the inner cities.
The average child in the inner
city lives with his mother who is
probably unsk ill ed and unem–
ployed. His father has long since
left the family. T here are often
July / August 1985
three or four brothers and sisters
who share the three-room govern–
ment-subsidized apartment com–
monly known as "the projects."
He or she grows up in the graffi–
ti-garnished, broken-glass-littered
streets. In too many cases, one could
say that the inner-city child is
reared in the streets and by the
streets- and the streets are cold–
blooded ruthless teachers.
The streets teach children to sur–
vive by being cunning, devious and
violent. The st reet " faculty mem–
bers," in the United States for exam–
ple, are characters who carry names
like Apple J ack, Baldy Locks,
Superfly and Fast Eddie. These infa–
mous role models are themselves
graduates of the streets with grad–
uate work in the
~'big
house" (pris–
on). Many have master's degrees ·in
the gruesome fields of dope pushing,
pimping, robbery and murder. They
are there eager and ready to pass on
their seamy ski lls.
These "professors of the streets"
hang out on every corner dazzling
their aspiring young pupils with the
trappings of "success": fine rags
(flashy clothes), a bad ride (luxury
car) and a head fix (high on sorne
form of drug). This is what the
inner-city child is conditioned to
believe is "making it"- real suc–
cess in life.
Since repetition is a good teaching
technique, this street life-style is
reinforced minute by minute and
song by song by the sounds that blast
from the "box" (large portable
radio). T his mechanized repetitious
teacher of the streets hypnotizes and
programs the mind with the life–
style and values of his or her human
street teachers. The constant re–
inforced curriculum is inescapable:
easy sex, easy money, easy high, and
being a "player" (ghetto Romeo).
Yet, despi te all these negative
factors, it is possible to rear
straight children! Whereas the
details we have just described are
more typical of American cities,
the circumstances and the solutions
are universally relevant.
Thousands of parents in the
inner citics are successfully meet–
ing the challenge. They are rearing
children who, in spite of their envi–
ro nment , are responsible, re–
spectful and successful young
people. T hey are proving that j ust
because you livc in the ghetto, the
ghetto doesn't have to live in you.
Here is what you can do to rear
your children above the s haky
shambles of the streets and set their
feet on salid ground.
Responsible Parents:
Good Children
Parents, let's face it. If you want
your children to turn out right , you
must be right. You must be what
you want your children to become.
Children are great imitators. As
little tots they dress up in our
clothes and play Momma and Dad–
dy, "acting" like us. As they grow
older it becomes more than just
playacting- they live out the role
of their parent or parents.
If you cheat the bill collector and
lie to the government , wby should
you be surprised when your child
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