DID I GET IT WRONG? MUST I BE 17!!!

DID I GET IT WRONG? MUST I BE 17!!! B.A. Psychology Editor/Publisher Central Newspapers ACCOMPLISHED WRITER/AUTHOR OF OVER 800,000 Published Columns in Canada and The United States Excuse me... Has my mind gone south so badly that I am getting it wrong. You work hard all your life to feed your family. You sacrifice day in and day out all while keeping a smile on your face. You teach your children to be good people.... only to pick up local newspaper and read how 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17 year olds are getting busted for drugs and weapons possession. 1st question. Do I really want these types of youth next to mine? Do, I want them in my tax paid school system? 2nd. I am driving home in my paid for car on my paid for road. Having had to pay for insurance, gas and repairs only to be pulled off the road by a police office checking if I am wearing my seat belts. Now don’t get me wrong.  I have nothing against police officers doing their jobs. But when teens are running around our streets with guns dealing drugs. I have a problem with the way justice is being dispensed. Not only that. If I want to buy a gun to protect my property and family. I must spend thousands of dollars. Go to courses, get licenses and the God’s know what other obstacles I will be made to jump. How did these individual, these kids get guns? I know the old cry.... Oh they come from broken homes. They are lost souls in a society that pushes them to crime. I say bull. Children are children. Crime is crime. Let’s not cross the line and then blame it on the child’s upbringing. I think police services should hold parent or guardians responsible for their kids actions. No soft love. Bring discipline to the family. Now I do not mean abuse. I mean structure, where everyone has a responsibility and a role. A family institution that has worked. In past generations there have been many that come from broken homes. From homes with abuse, substance issues and yes drug use. Many of those victims managed to have the enough sense to get out and make a life for themselves. What has gone wrong from then to today? The answer is simple. Event though homes may have been broken. The family structure was still the root of social development. Today, with all kind of violence found in games, television. Children are brought up without discipline and the believe that they have special rights to do as they please. This compounded with crime. We have what we have today. Let’s take charge of our families and work on improving our future generations.