The stakes had risen enormously. It seemed to happen overnight. Our neighbors are conscientious people who have their recycling bins out twice a week. But today our nice neighborhood has gangs, many of our neighbors have been robbed, junior high and high school kids go through metal detectors entering school, fights have become brawls with victims requiring plastic surgery. The teachers complain about the affluent, arrogant students who think life owes them.
Drug addiction is a pervasive disease.
The kids seem to be taking control in their world which is out of control Violence and the effects of violence no longer happen to the other guy. Parenting in the nineties requires a more proactive approach. Times have changed. It used to be that social institutions provided for life's learning experiences and for teaching lessons. Now, in the absence of the social cohesiveness of the past, parents must take back the responsibility to coordinate their children's experiences.