Kids deserve better parenting

A couple of weeks ago, I began considering what it would be like to have a child after I spent some time around a young mother who had two wonderful, cute little boys. I watched her as she smoked cigarettes, drank hard liquor and used language in front of her children that is completely unacceptable. I was so angry. \nAll I could think about was how these two innocent children looked up to their mother and had no idea about right from wrong. Yet someone who is a perfect candidate for what you shouldn't do with your life was raising them. She was teaching them skills and behaviors that teachers in grade school would later struggle to dispel. \nAn article in USA Today Jan. 14, "Parental behavior under scrutiny" discussed the recent reemergence of violent and questionable behavior of parents at children's sporting events. In light of the conviction one father received after beating another father to death at his son's hockey game, the article focuses on the increase in violent outbursts and fights started by parents at school-sponsored events. What is our world coming to? And what does this say to our children? \nAttacks are so routine that the National Association of Sports offers insurance to the referees. Give me a break. Some of these kids are only 8 and 9 years old. Most of them are probably just excited to be playing a sport with their peers. Why are the parents getting worked up over a grade school game? \nThis is one more example of why we need more parents who are going to set a good example for their kids. Just because people can physically reproduce doesn't mean they should go ahead and do it -- as we can all see by the countless examples of unfit parents in our world today. Which brings me back to those cute boys. What happens when they get into kindergarten and start using their mom's foul language toward other children in the classroom? Or what if they decide in middle school it's OK to smoke because their mom does? What about the children of the parents who get into fights at their little league games?\nParents need to know they are the embodiment of values, morals, esteem and goals for their children. The problems in our world don't begin with the media, society, the next-door neighbor, etc. They begin in the home. A child's family life is crucial to his well being and understanding of the world. \nI now realize the kids whose parents used to seem so "cool" raised children who don't have a clue about what is good for them and what isn't.\nAs many times as I have gotten into arguments and fights with my parents, I am still grateful they raised me the way they did and that I have always had a loving family to come home to. Parenting is not an easy task. I just hope the great parents we do have in this world will stick around to help influence the other struggling parents out there and tell them to get it together. Otherwise it will be a never-ending cycle of mistakes, and our children don't deserve that.