When people forget to be human beings

There's a terribly sad, hard-to-read post up on My Own Woman's blog. She describes a mother whose only interest is in her present relationship, at the expense of her son.

I've had to deal with so many cases of parental neglect like this . . . the children usually grow up with no sense of right or wrong, no understanding of morality or ethics, no idea of how to behave. Many of them end up in trouble with the law: it's after that became irrevocable that I met many of them behind prison bars. Trouble is, by that time they're usually so set in their ways that to give them any real incentive to change is almost impossible. They'll make a great pretense of 'getting religion' or anything else that might get them an 'early out': but once they're on the streets again they usually revert to their old ways in a matter of hours (if not minutes).

From her story, it sounds like we have another prime candidate for such a life growing up right now. I guess this kid's only hope is to find a foster parent who can help him see the light: and since he's already in his teens, it's likely too late for that. By the time kids reach double digits in age their personalities have largely been formed. It takes a miracle to change them - or the strict discipline of military service or something like that.

Please take a few moments to click over to My Own Woman and read her story . . . and be grateful that you didn't have to endure such an upbringing. (At least, I hope you didn't. If you did, congratulations on surviving it!)

Peter