Opinion: Kids do not raise themselves
By Jen Houghton Staff Writer
Many countries, including Italy, the Czech Republic, Germany and Spain, have Duty to Rescue laws, legally requiring bystanders to assist people in distress or at a minimum to call the local emergency number.
The U.S. has no such laws. In France, a person could face five years in prison and a nearly $150,000 fine for not aiding someone who needs help. In the United States, there seems to be a common attitude that people should mind their own business.
There is an important lesson to be learned from the recent rape in Richmond: Parents need to start being parents again. It’s a frightening realization that out of the dozen young people who stood by and watched, not one had parents who instilled in them the responsibility to help someone in desperate need.
Kids do not raise themselves. If parents are too busy, or absent altogether, kids are raised by their friends, peers, or anyone they recognize as an elder. This could mean anyone from teachers to gang-bangers.
In the absence of parents, kids are not raised by television and music as some choose to believe. I understand the desire to put the blame on something we can’t truly punish, but those mediums just compound what kids learn from the people who instill their morals.
After Bay Area resident Richard McCroskey, 20, was charged with the gruesome murder of a Virginia family, the media went looking for answers in McCroskey’s choice in music, specifically horrorcore. A local news program recently aired a segment on horrorcore, a genre that blends rock and rap with graphic, violent lyrics. This reminds me of the Columbine shootings, when the media claimed Marilyn Manson was to blame.
One of the artists being interviewed pointed out that Charles Manson listened to The Beatles. The anchor missed the point. “So, parents shouldn’t let their kids listen to The Beatles?” he said. Forget what the kids are listening to. It’s not about the music, or video games, or movies - there are plenty of horrorcore, Marilyn Manson, or The Beatles fans, who are not out killing or raping people.
Instead of blaming and banning certain music or movies, parents should just talk to their kids. Be parents, not friends. Kids, even older ones with jobs and relationships, need guidance and a concrete foundation of morals. Parents can’t rely on their kids’ friends or idols to give them that.
Parents need to firmly define the line between reality and fantasy for their kids before someone else does it for them, and in such a way that they don’t respect the reality of violence.
A news clip about the Richmond gang rape said a resident who lived two blocks from the scene finally called the police after someone walking by told them what was happening. A person can watch a girl get raped, then walk two blocks to tell their friends about it, and still not pick up the phone to call 911? The kids who watched the assault didn’t seem to realize what they were witnessing was wrong.
Without the threat of punishment that Duty to Rescue laws impose, it’s up to us as citizens to willingly come to someone’s aid.
It’s up to parents to raise their kids to be those good citizens that we all hope are around when we need them. And it is up to us to be those good citizens.
