Whose to Blame When Children Fail?

This week a former principal in my community died from an apparent heart attack. Earl Pappy was 51. I met him once in 2008 when I brought actress Bern Nadette Stanis to his school to speak to the drama students. (pictured on the left of Ms. Stanis). My first and only impression of him was he was nice. But that's not what this post is about.

Mr. Pappy was forced to resign last year because of his school's continued low academic performance ranking. Of all of the high schools in the area, Hillside was dead last. The school had been on the steady decline for several years. Mr. Pappy was supposed to change all that when he moved from the same position in Richmond, VA. It didn't happen and parents complained LOUDLY.

Here's my question: If high school students can't read or perform academically on the high school level, is that the Principal's fault? If students came into the school with a behavior issue, is the principal responsible?

By the time students get to high school,they should have it pretty much together. I say try going back to grade school level--maybe an elementary teacher should've held the child back when she discovered he couldn't read, write or add. Or better yet, try going into some of the homes of these same parents who were doing all of the complaining. That's where you'll find many of the failures.

Parents want to blame teachers for their childrens shortcoming. Yes, I definitely think teachers should be held accountable, however, it's also up to parents to stay on top of things to make sure their children are getting what they need. If you wait to high school, that's way too late.

If a parent wants to blame one individual for their child's failures, maybe they should look in the mirror.

Parents, Sex and Their Kids

Drugs, Sex, Rock & Roll & Woodstock: Those are some of the tags associated with my baby boomer generation. Now, here we are 40 years later dealing with some of the same things with our own children and grandchildren. But what is so shocking is the fact that the kids engaging in these risky behaviors are getting younger and younger. Just this morning, I came across an article this morning that startled me.

The article indicates that middle school youth are engaging in sexual intercourse as early as age 12, according to a study by researchers at The University of Texas School of Public Health.

Results from this study are published in the April issue of Journal of School Health.

Researchers examined sexual risk behaviors among middle school students in a large southeastern U.S. urban public school district. The say the study shows that although most seventh graders are not engaging in sexual risk behaviors, a small percentage are putting themselves at risk.

In the study, sexual intercourse was defined as vaginal, oral or anal sex. According to their research, by age 12, 12 percent of students had already engaged in vaginal sex, 7.9 percent in oral sex, 6.5 percent in anal sex and 4 percent in all three types of intercourse.

Researchers say these findings are alarming because youth who start having sex before age 14 are much more likely to have multiple lifetime sexual partners, use alcohol or drugs before sex and have unprotected sex, all of which puts them at greater risk for getting a sexually transmitted disease (STD) or becoming pregnant.

The study found one-third of sexually active students reported engaging in vaginal or anal sex without a condom within the past three months, and one-fourth had four or more partners. The more experienced students in all three types of intercourse were more likely to be male and African-American.

So I ask you, parents and grandparents, who or what is the blame for this outrageous, risky behavior among our youth? What can be done to prevent it?