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ARE WE NEGLECTING
·
OUR NATION'S YOUTH?
Parents are increasingly neglecting their most important
responsibility, often with tragic results.
by Donald D. Schroeder
N
ever have our young people
had more leisure time. bett er
food, better cd uca tion. or
more materia l goods . Yet youthful
vio lence. aggress ion. ano ho tility is
mo re pr o no un ce d th a n in an y
pe riod o f moderi1 his tory. Forty per–
cen t of United States crimes of vio–
le nce a nd two thi rd& of crime5
against property (80% of vanda lism)
a re commitl ed by th ose und e r
twenty-one.
And the U.S.
tS
by no mea ns
a lon e in th is ph enomcnon. Youth
crime and violence a re epidemic in
almos t a ll ..advanced" countries.
' ·We are experiencing a break–
clown in the process or ma king
huma n beings huma n.' ' stresscs
Co rn e ll psycho logi s t a nd ca ree r
chi ld wa tchcr Uri e Bronfenbrenne r.
It wou ld be gross ly misleading to
impli ca te that a ll modern youth a re
turning out ' ' bad ." There are innu–
merable notable exce ptions with
which we a re all familia r. Still. our
children and yo ung adults- tomor–
row's mos t valuabl e a nd importan!
resource - are tempted to respond
to a llu ring but wa rped socia l to rces
that have alrcady pushed unto ld
n u mbe rs in lo he a rt a e h e. d is–
illus ionment. and ruin ed li ves.
Parents on the Run
Many forces have caused thi s crisis,
but without a doubt the biggest
single factor is that youth and par–
ents increasingly are goi ng their sep–
ara te ways .
Ha ving lost their spiritua l and
moral roots. many pa rents are run–
ning, many litera lly, from one of the
mos t importan! rcsponsibil iti cs in
life: that of prepa ring the future
ge neration unde r thei r cha rge
to
be–
come intelligenl. self-disciplined, rc–
s p o ns ib le. pr o du c ti ve, d ece nt
huma n be ings.
"An increas ing number of parcnts
ha ve resigned their responsibility
24
fo r th e cha ra<.:te r of thei r child." says
Dr. Amita i Etzioni . professo r of so–
ciology at Columbia Uni vcr it y.
' 'It 's as e leme nt a ry as that.' '
Ca ught up in a whirlwind of
wo rk . social. or enterta inmcnt ac tiv–
it ies. ma ny pa rents have little time.
des ire. or energy to show afrection
or lo give pos itivc tra ining a nd
di~
cipline to their oA'spring. Yet these
are the basic essentia ls of ·'making
human beings human ."
Finding thcir children irritat ing,
un gra tefuL unrewarding, or "in the
way.'' many pa ren ts have come to
rescnt their child ren.
Backed up by stacks of socia1sta–
tis tics from governmenl agenci es.
Bronfenbrenn er points toan a la rm–
ing bul irrefut able fact: Ups idc–
down homes .and family fractu re ,
v.: hil e more se rious in poor and non–
white groups. cut ri ght across a ll in–
co me. ra ce . an d e du ca t io n
ca tegories.
To compo.und thc problem. more
modern women are beginning to
dese rt their home and family. In
some place_. wi vcs ac tua lly out–
number husbands as run aways.
Working Mothers
Anolher we ll-es tab lished trend
~
the des ire of mothcr to pursue a
career outside the home - hasn' t
improved overa ll pa rent -child rela–
tionships or cha ractcr tra ining.
One th ird of American mothers of
preschoo l child re n are in the labor
force. More than half of our school–
age chi ldren now have mothers who
wo rk outside th e home, mos tly full
time. Whilc th is is not to say it is
a lways harmful for moth ers lo work
outside the home (much depends on
th e family circumstance. age or ehil–
dren. and quality of tra ining), this
situation has produced a growing
number of ncglectcd childrcn who
ba rely see or know lhei r pa rent . or
vice versa.
Worst Fruit from Child-rearing
Extremes
Whi le broken homes often engender
a great dea l of youth ful problcms.
much dehumanizing is done in in–
tact homes where child-rearing ex–
tremes or inconsis tency i the rul e.
Untold numbe rs or homes a re not
homes. but ba ttlegrounds where
chi ld rcn a nd pare nts endl ess ly
"fight it ou t " with many parenls
in timida tcd a nd cowc ri ng bc forc
their ch ild's every se lfish wbim.
In too many homes a t the other
ex treme. ha rsh . oppressive. whimsi–
cal. or capricious pa renta l discipline
lea ves a va riely of deep sca rs on its
yo uth ful vict ims. The to ll of emD–
liona lly and phys ical ly ba tt ered and
abused chi ldren mounts up in to the
hundreds ofthousands cvery yea r.
In betwecn a re a la rgc group of
pa ren ta l oscillator ; they swing back
and fort h be tween being lOO Strict
and too lenient. Unhappy wit h the
res ults of their inconsistency. ma ny
j us t give up and ta ke the pa th of
leas t resis tance.
Parenting- A Dying Art
Paren ta l inA ue nce is rapidly d im in–
ishing to a very low point. Many
pa rents seem lo be bl ind ly a pat het ic
or demora lizcd while a growing list
o f c rsa tz ' ' pare n ts" indoct r ina te
thei r chi ldren wi th ques tionable val–
ues a nd aLtitudes.
For many younger childre n. tele–
vis ion
~
with its violence and in–
an ity - is frcquent ly used as a
Aicker ing electronic paren t. TY now
·occupics more wak in g hours of mil-
lions of young ch ildren than any
other single influence - includ ing
bot h pa rents and schoo ls.
Peer groups. schoo ls. preschools,
and various ch ild-carc ce nte rs have
also taken ovcr th c role tha t too
many parents seem re lucta nl to pe r–
lorm. Whil e none of these a re neces–
sa ri ly wrong, a nd in some regards
may be qui te benelicia l, none f'ull1 1l
the maj or respo n ·ib ili ty of prc–
paring youth for ma ture. respon–
sible adu llhood.
Even a lter six yea rs of formal
schooli ng. though . an ave rage child
has spent on ly.seven percent of his
or he r lite in school. Ni ne ry-three
pe rcenl or thc chi ld's lire has been
influenced by the moral. ethical.
The
PLAIN TRUTH July 1976