A VOW TO GUIDE OUR KIDS

My longtime friend was solemn as he took me aside.

“Man, my grandson got caught smoking weed the other day,” he told me.

I was shocked, of course. His grandson is an honor roll student, better-than-average athlete and regular churchgoer. And he’s 13.

“He also admitted he’s been watching porn since he was 5,” my friend said. Double shock.

In my day, we rolled cornstalks and tried to smoke them. I didn’t even know where to look for marijuana. Today, you don’t have to look; it seems to find you.

As for porn, there was the rundown theater in Kokomo, frequented by guys wearing sunglasses and trench coats, but we kids just peeked at Playboy when mom was on the other side of the grocery store.

Kids sure face bigger, and potentially more damaging, temptations than we did.

I don’t know where a 13-year-old kid gets weed. Probably from a 17-year-old kid, who gets it from a 20-year-old dealer.

I certainly don’t know how to stop drugs from reaching kids who should be riding bikes and learning to play guitar and working on a jalopy they’ll drive when they’re old enough. “Just Say No” didn’t work. And this country lost the war on drugs a long time ago.

The war on pornography has already been decided, even though it hasn’t been declared yet. We lost. Parents can take away cell phones and computers, and throw away the TV. Kids will still view illicit sex because the lady next door thinks her Johnny doesn’t look at naked women on his phone.

Besides, as long as Miley Cyrus is legal, kids will be exposed to porn. If you think I’m joking, type in “Miley Cyrus Barcelona” on YouTube. By the way, many of those screams you hear as Miley lays on top of a car with her legs spread wide are coming from 13-year-old girls who should be home washing the family dishes.

What does this have to do with you? Well, 20 percent of Lake County is under the age of 18. So perhaps we should have a conversation about what we — by working together — can do to drive drug dealers out of our midst … how we can get parents more involved in their child’s life … what parents can do to monitor Internet use … how we can warn parents about the dangers of drugs, alcohol, pornography, bad associates and yes, sex.

If we don’t get involved — if we keep our heads in the sand — our community standards will continue to sink. We’re already flirting with “Anything goes” on the morality meter.

Healthy Living is willing to do its part. We’re stepping up our commitment to educate, inspire and empower the family.

That’s why we’ve added Mary Ellen Griffith, Bob Blanchette and Scott Perkins to our stable of writers. Each is uniquely qualified to provide guidance on how we can strengthen our families.

Mary Ellen is a teacher, author and mother of a college-bound daughter. Bob is a personal-development counselor who has helped hundreds of couples and families improve communication. Scott is a husband, father and life coach.

Mary Ellen is first up this month with a compelling column about when and how children should be rewarded with money.

Future columns will address how parents can counteract the destructive influences children are bombarded with.

I hope you’ll join us in our quest to save our children.

Until next time,

Gary Corsair