Published: January 12, 2008 12:30 am            

DAY: We let it all happen

To teach responsibility, you have to be responsible

I enjoy writing about the old days, and about what is going on in the present.

Life was hard in the old days, but everything that we have today is a result of what we had to work hard for in the past.

In the old days, we had discipline and respect for our elders. Families were very close back then, and they stuck together. When we played games, everyone played that wanted to. When we ate, everyone was at the table, waiting for that taste of good home-cooked food that only Mom could make. After our chores and homework were done, it was family time in front of the radio, where we would listen, and “watch” a lot of great shows.

Back then, since you listened to the shows, you sort of made a visual picture of what was going on. Since you were raised with good thoughts in your mind, the “picture” from the radio was one that had a good moral outcome.

Today, we don’t have to bring up any pictures, as they are right there in front of you. There are shows on television that would shame the worst of people. They show it all, and that is one of the problems that we are faced with while trying to bring up our children.

You don’t have to teach sex to them, because they can get the whole story from the tube. As parents, we’ve let it happen, and it will be hard to get it stopped. How can we, as parents, keep the filth out of our children’s hands and minds? That is a question that only you as a parent can answer.

Gone are prayers in the schools and the discipline in the home, just because someone thought that their rights were being taken away. Whose rights were violated? The ones that want prayer in the school and discipline in the home are the ones that had their rights taken away.

When you are told how to believe and how you can discipline your children, you are the ones that lost a God-given right. It is really bad when you can discipline a child and be arrested for it.

I do know that there are cases where the child is beaten, and that is wrong. Discipline should only be as a way to teach respect and responsibility. Most parents are good to their children and they know that their children love them. But the small numbers of complaints by some kids, who can’t be trained, are sent to the police, who have to do their job, and that makes it hard for parents and school teachers to do their job.

We, as parents, let this happen. We can stop it by going back to the old way of doing the training of our children, so that they can carry it on with their children. All I can say to those youngsters out there is that it doesn’t get any easier. To teach respect, you have to be respected. To teach responsibility, you have to be responsible.

I am very happy that I came from the days when respect and responsibility were taught in the home. And I am very proud to say that instead of abuse, we had discipline. Maybe it hurt a little back then, but you can see that it did me a lot of good. And my parents were taught the same way by their parents, only they came from a much tougher time, when nothing came easy, and anything you worked for went toward your living expenses.

There was no extra in the old days as far as money was concerned, but there was always a lot more love to go around, and families were a group of one. And the neighbors were always looking out for you too, and they helped keep you out of trouble.

They say that you can never go back, but I say that if you want, you can always go back to the memory bank, and remember when it was cool to sit on the front or back porch and just spend time with your family and friends.

Ray “Uncle Ray” Day is a weekly contributor to the Kokomo Tribune. He can be reached by e-mail at arermdrd@netusa1.net or uncleray@skyenet.net

        

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