In the recent election campaigns, family values and societal problems, were terms that were brought up innumerable times. Everyone talks about where this country is going.. straight to the gutters it seems. Societal morality or the lack of it, is the logical reason for this direction. The first explanation of how we got to this point is usually the break down of the family. Divorce happens in half of all marriages today. Even in families where the parents are still together, or two parental figures living together in the same house, both parents usually work and children are home y themselves anyway. It is unusual among my friends for someone's original parents to still be together. In fact of my closest ten friends, one of them has her parents together. one out of ten.

The increase in violence is also high on the list of explanations for society breakdown. Spending on law enforcement and government since the 80's has decreased by 42 percent. In order to achieve the same ratio of crimes to police officers present in the 1960's, an additional 3 million police officers would have to be hired. Unfortunately, the people who control the money to pay for the police forces would rather hire their own private mercenary forces. In fact, the number of private security officers exceeds those of publicly employed police officers. The message this sends is that if you are not rich you don't deserve to be safe. Is this the kind of society we want to bring children up in anyway?

The third major reason when referring to the downfall of our society is television and violence. The media critiques itself on how bad television is for our children yet doesn't take any real steps to reduce violence on tv. Introducing a rating system doesn't mean there is any less violence, it just means the media has squirreled out of it's real responsibility.

All of these reasons in the end just refer to a lack of societal standards. My question is, how is it possible to have society standards if those individuals that make up the society do not have their own set of morals and ethics? It's easy to say as a society we condemn child pornography but if individuals in society believe the it's acceptable than there will still be child pornography. However, alternately, if you instill in children that pornography exploiting children is wrong, when they grow up they will believe that and will not use it.

This obviously is not a cut and dried answer. You can not tell a child something and expect them to live it. They must be shown by example, and most importantly, be allowed to come to their own conclusions. It is imperative that we instill problem solving and reasoning techniques in our children along with a good basic education. In my experience by the time a child has hit 15 they have become the basis for what they are going to become. If by that point, they haven't learned how to think for themselves others are going to do it for them. This is why teachers and coaches are so important. Yet, these same people are getting paid a pittance and overburdened with too many children and too few materials and other resources. Good teachers burn out every day and become another useless part of our education system.

We have to make a decision on what we as country think is important for our country and spend our money accordingly. Federal spending in the 1980's declined by 40 percent in education and teaching. Last year, Congress gave the military $500 million dollars to build a new B2 bomber the military said they didn't need. Makes you think, eh?

What we all need to do is take an interest in what our government is doing on a day to day basis beyond the campaign frame. Communicate with the representatives you just elected. Let them know what issues are important to you. Make constructive comments. Use your mind and speak it.

"If the kids were united, then they'd never be divided"
Sham 69

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