A Letter to Parents

Dear Parents,

If you are in the process of raising your very first child, admit it- you have no idea what you're doing. I think more often than not parents forget that even though they have been raised into decent adults, raising one is totally different. If your child is 17/18 and wrapping up their final year of high school, relax. Soon your child is going to go off into the world on their own and you have to trust that you're done everything that you can to raise them right. At the same time, however, teens do make mistakes and holding them to the highest standard of perfection when you yourself weren't on that level is slightly petty and disheartening to the teen struggling to figure out and establish who they are in this crazy world.

Guidance has gotten you this far. It's about time to take the training wheels off. Parents, you are entering the bike riding stage where you're running besides the bike with no wheels, preparing to let go and see if your child has been listening to what they've been told. Support your kid. They need it. As excited as they may be about riding the bike alone or going away to school- deep down inside they're just as nervous about you letting go as they are.

When you do let go, that isn't the end! If they fall, you must be there to pick them up. If they don't, be there for praise. Eventually they will start riding the bike all over but they will never forget how they learned.

It's basically May of many first children's senior year and the realest thing is yet to come. Everyone must brace themselves and have faith in themselves. Things will be different but things will be okay.

Civic Duty: All people should...

All people should "do the right thing". That's common knowledge, right? I think a majority of people would agree that when it comes to making decisions one should always do the right thing. I don't think that's the problem. Determining what the right thing is is where the roadblocks occur.

We don't live in anarchy, so someone creates some type of rules that all Americans must abide by. No objection is really necessary. Someone tells us what's right and what's wrong and we listen. Unfortunately life isn't black and white. The gray area of interpretation is the sole reason why we have people that disobey laws and do what they want. We do live in a nation where freedoms are abundant and people can be their own individuals.

For example; littering.
I could rattle off a list of reasons why littering is bad, tacky, and distasteful, but if you don't think our environment is very imporant you aren't going to care. It's as simple as that.

How about abortion?
I wouldn't say that I'm a huge supporter of abortion but at the same time, I don't think it's fair to tell someone what they can or cannot do with their bodies. Every situation is different, we can't treat them all the same.

It is difficult for me to determine something that "all people should" except for maybe that all people should be able to make their own decisions about what they do with their lives as long as it's ethical. At the same time... who's to say what's ethical? Oh the joys of living in a country that emphasizes the individual...

This is where my train of thought chugs off into the sunset.