The other day, I was asked by one of my readers , a question that didn't take me too long to answer. The reader asked what has happened to our young folk, and if there was any chance of saving the younger generation from causing thier own fall from grace. Well the first part of that question can be answered several ways, but all the answers will lead back to one reason why we have failed in our quest to make good solid citizens of our young folk. That one reason is that we, as the parents and grandparents of these youngsters forgot what got us here. We don't discipline the kids anymore, due to the conflicts with the silly laws that have been set down for us to follow. Any law that takes away the right of a parent to correct thier child in thier own way, violates every thing that we as kids accepted as proper discipline. And so without someone there to make sure that the child starts and maintains a straight narrow line in just about everything he or she does, there is not too much of a chance of this child growing up to adult-hood without the drugs, and crime being thier goal in life.

In answer to the second part of the question, it is easy to fall from grace, since it is against another silly law to display the "Ten Commandments" in the schools and public places. They took prayer out of schools because it violated others' rights. Don't you think that by denying my child the right to prayer in school, you are violating his or her rights. What we, as a nation under GOD have done to protect some rights of some people, is to deny others that right to decide for themselves, whether they want to be able to observe "The Ten Commandments" on any wall or if they want to join in prayer in school. Those who do not want to do this are not forced to do so. So in the sence of the idea, what is being done to protect some is denying others of thier right.

How did we get to this point where your hands are tied to what you can do and what you can't do? Very simple answer to this is that we as voters, allowed those who we elected to office, to make laws that benefited them and not those who they represent. We allowed laws to be enacted, that actually bind us in the proper training of our children. With our hands tied by these laws , and with the law enforcement people having to do thier job accordingly, and the judges having to follow the laws, that is the answer to the question from my reader.

Now where is the answer to how we turn this thing around? How do we as parents discipline and train our young , so that they, in one day in the future, will be the leaders of this country we call the good old USA? Well first, we start weeding out those who want to take this country down to it's lowest level. And you start with those who make the laws of the land. Put a question to those who are running for office, asking them thier stand or view of the separation of church and politics. Ask them if they are going to be willing to put prayer back in the schools and the posting of The Ten Commandments on the walls of the public places . If they say no or if they say that it is not possible to do so, then you can bet that I won't vote them into office. The problem in our government is that we as voters believed what the men and women running for office say and then it is too late to do anything about it. Well, there is something that you and I can do if our representative does not do what he or she promised, and that is what they call recall. Don't leave them there to make the laws that only benefits them or those groups that help in a money way to get elected. Dad always said that if you leave one rotton apple in the basket long enough, the rest of the apples will soon follow suit. You can sit there and listen to all the promises that these people make, and all you have is a promise. A promise will never be any good without acting on it.

Getting back to our young children, we ,as leaders here in Kokomo, need to establish a set of rules for our young folk to follow. Then we need to give back the right to discipline those who do not want to follow those rules. And then we need to make sure that the hands of our educaters in the schools are not tied to those silly laws tthat got us in this mess to start with. I personally have known the fathers of most of our elected officials here in Kokomo and they did what they had to do to make great citizens out of thier children. In the old days, your hands were not tied by laws that only benefit a few. Take a little time to think about it and if those parents are still with us, ask them what thier feelings are about the laws that have degraded the institution of parent-hood. Then take a little time out of your life and sit down with your children and lay down the law to them. There is still hope for our youngsters out there, but they need guidance,and they need the love of a parent to make it in this world.

Our young folk as a whole is really great but there are those out there that need to change in thier ideas and thier actions, before they turn into the drug addicts, murderers, robbers, and misfits that will take this country down. Too many times we look the other way when one of our young folk is in trouble. That is where we as the leaders need to turn that rotten apple into a good apple. How do we do that without changing back to what we as the old folk followed as to what our parents did to get us here . Well we could make an effort to give all those kids out there a place that all could go to without any problems of race or religion. We would need to establish a set of guidelines that all, including the ones that would be the overseers, would be able to follow. There would be activities that all could get into, or not if they didn't want to. A section of the place could be set aside just for those who want to just sit and talk, and another place in the building that those young folks could sit and listen to music and maybe join in in some of the singing. In other words give these kids someplace like thier parents have ,only without the drinks of the older folks. We need to do something for these kids so that they will soon know that we do care about them, and that they will want to follow the same path that we did as kids. Sometimes we have to bend a little even though it hurts so that we might pick up the broken pieces to try to put them back together.

Whatever we do to bring our children back to reality, we know that the benefits that these kids will get , will be well worth it. We can do it and we will do it, but unless we do it soon, it will be too late. GOD sent these young folk to us to nurture and train and to love, just like HE did with us when we came to our parents. It is a circle of love that should never be broken. One of my readers told me that she likes to read what I say, because I seem to speak from the heart. I try to speak from experience, from love, and I speak "straight from the heart". Take care of those around you and show your love for all your fellow men and women. What you can do for another, only takes a few seconds but it will last a lifetime for the person recieving it. As always, pray for me as I need it, and if the GREAT FATHER calls me home, then rejoice for me. Catch all my writing for this year of 2000 on my web page at http://www.geocities.com/kokomoman/ and you can e-mail me at [email protected]

Ray "Uncle Ray" Day