Not That, This

 Most of the 'problem kids' I deal with are really just victims of poor/lazy parenting.
In an era in which adults value material goods more than spiritual necessities - what else should one expect?
If a parent is not acting in a respectable manner - why should anyone expect children to treat their parents with respect?
Today, many parents seem to be primarily concerned with being cool, with being popular, with impressing the neighbors.
But these are childish values.
What child would respect any adult who acts/thinks like one of his own grade school friends?

 Many of these parents outsource the responsibilities that go along with being a parent.
Instead of teaching their children, many hire tutors.
Instead of spending time with their children, many just buy gadgets to pass the child's idle time.
But this fosters synthetic relationships instead of strengthening the parent-child bond.

 Today, I had a woman ask me to talk to her troubled son.
Apparently, her son stopped listening to her advice.
But this woman has no job, bad credit, is always at "Da' club" and always has different men sleeping over.
What boy would respect anyone who is doing worse than himself?

This woman considers herself to be a good mother.
When I tried to explain her deficiencies to her, "I buy him everything he wants.", is all she could say.
But this is the problem.
She buys things to compensate for her own shortcomings as a parent.
But children can see through the camouflage.
A child knows the expected differences between his parents and his peers.

How many good people does it take to take the place of a bad parent?