Drugs are not the only way we are killing our kids

Sometimes the best lessons are those things we learn from the past because history teaches us that human nature rarely changes, but the major difference between good history and bad history is not the person or people written about it’s the results of their actions.  Case in point:  The pilgrims ran from England and the result is them being credited with establishing a new nation later called America.  The slaves ran from their masters and the result is freedom and a much better opportunity at a better life.  These are examples of lessons from the past about running away from a problem that ultimately resulted in much better things for the runner and all those that came afterwards.  An example of bad history is when a young child run away from home to seek a better life which normally results in finding that the better life does not exist and results in lonesomeness, isolation and often times more trouble than staying home.  Another example of bad history is enveloped into this story and it’s one we all need to stop and change right now if it is our intentions to save our kids.

For as long as I can remember families have been allowing their children to learn that if things do not work out as you would like them to just run away.  As time has elapsed, it is a lesson that many of our youth and even some of our more mature youths are practicing and surely making running away an art form.  We commit the action but refuse to take responsibility for it so instead of standing up, stepping up and dealing with the results of our decisions, we run.  We run, hoping that we can escape the outcome and that no one will ever know or find out that we are foul able.  We fail to learn the lesson of the past and continue to repeat the bad history that ends in us getting caught and having to pay for the transgressions we choose to bring upon ourselves only in many cases the damages that occurred during our attempted escape from responsibility results in much more damages done.

Local readers will find that the story that promotes my take is very familiar and those readers not local should be able to conjure up a memory of an identical story.  It’s the story of an innocent woman 55-year-old Joy Lambert, who was killed immediately after the driver of speeding car that ripped hers in half was running from Sheriff’s Deputies.  The story goes “The Winnebago County Sheriff's Department says a deputy tried pulling a car over for speeding when it then took off, topping speeds of 80 miles an hour. Investigators say the deputy then quickly ended the chase at Springfield and Preston, but the suspect didn't slow down, crashing about half a mile later at Springfield and Cunningham, killing and injuring the driver and passenger in the suspect's car”.  Now if the rumors are true and the driver truly was running because of a suspended license that choice caused the life of Ms. Lambert, the comatose condition of her passenger and the broken arm and busted ribs that she must suffer with.  Deciding to run instead of pulling over results in now being faced with multiple counts of vehicular homicide, if her passenger dies, multiple years in prison and most importantly a lifetime of nightmares and sleepless nights when the alternative would have been possibly 24 hours of incarceration, a stiff fine and further suspension of driving privileges for additional years.  Compare the two and the best choice should be more than clear.

We want to keep our children safe but we continue to preach running as an alternative to taking responsibility for the choices we make.  We applaud all those who escape accountability and claim that this is the proper way to conduct yourself.  Our mottos seem to be just don’t get caught and we wonder why it is so easy for our children to then run.  Young men claim to be the biggest and baddest on the block until the walls begin to close in on them then they strike up and run hoping to out run the reach of anyone who will hold them to account.  They were the biggest and baddest a few minutes ago.  Our young girls think that public fighting and having a boyfriend is a rite of passage until the situation gets very bad and they look around for an escape route that does not exist.  Now I know we cannot be there each and every day, each and every time but at least we can provide them options so that running is not their only choice because if there is one other thing history teaches us is that those who stand fast and refuse to be a victim often times emerge stronger than those who run.

Bottom line, we need to stop telling our kids or allowing them to think that running from anything will solve it when we know from our past it only prolongs it.  We need to educate them that when you are in the right remain silent until you get your day in court and when you are in the wrong remain silent unless you are fully taking responsibility for the part you played in making bad history.