Young people are known for mixing up the sequence “ready, aim, fire” to something more akin to ready, fire, uh…aim”, but Tracy Egan Morrissey, over at Jezebel has certainly taken some of the kiddies to ‘school’ on how responsibility goes hand-in-hand with the First Amendment right to free speech (here).
It seems that quite a few young white folks took to Twitter just after the presidential election to let their worlds know just how they feel about four more years of Mr. Obama. What many had to say was not indicative of good anything…parenting, schooling, coaching or anything else. Mrs. Morrissey/Jezebel simply gave these young people a greater public forum for their youthful vileness. Good for her. It is important for us to know the kids we are raising.
Black parents certainly get a daily dose of what vileness their kids can produce left unattended, but this time around it was white folk’s turn to say ‘what the hell?’. I also know that kids speak in ways that they were not taught, so I do not automatically blame parents for any particular kid, however, all parents collectively share the blame. You cannot assume that what your kid says in front of you is what they say to others. Parents need to be a little crafty in order to really know their kids – because kids are crafty. And for many parents, it all begins with setting a good example.
In the coming days their will be more made of this, but one thing is for sure, what you say in public forums, electronic or otherwise, follows you and is sticky like syrup. I’m sure Mr. Romney wishes he could take back “self-deportation”, “binders of women”, “the 47%…”, and the like, when he considers how Latinos and women reacted to those words. Mitt certainly wasn’t dropping N-bombs, but his gaffes showed that someone could have schooled him a little better about measuring his words.
James C. Collier
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