OMT, the radical chiceria has supported radical groups like the Panthers, who have been telling kids for decades that learning to read was acting white. When people like Bill Cosby try to take on the dysfunctional culture, very few blacks support him. And when whites try to point out that people like Charlie Rangel are race baiters, we are called racists.

I don't think this goes back to slavery so much as the late 60s.

Great post Tommy.

I have had some pretty close contacts with 1st and 2nd generation Americans, and I really empathize with the difficulty people have in learning the new culture and realizing that their kids and grandkids won't share theirs. It takes quite a while to discover how the new system works, and there can be a problem if kids don't respect their elders because they aren't "with it." Perhaps we need to talk to immigrants about our own problems in sending the next generation out into a world very different from the one in which we grew up. Italy isn't as it was in 1950 either. But still we need to transmit basic values, and how to do hat is something we can all talk about.

Astonishing,

I think you also have to factor in the people who have been pushing the victim mentality. When people, especially the young, are told that nothing is their fault, they tend to think they can get away with anything.

Germans are far more likely to do what their "betters" say. Right now, the "betters" are greenies who demonize GM foods and idealize the organic life. I know the same types exist in America, but here there is little pushback. A few days after Fukushima, I saw normal-appearing women in the grocery store and they were practically hysterical about whether it was safe to get broccoli for their kids. I was never aware that Japan exported many vegies to Europe, but this bit of logic was unable to break through the fear of all things related to atoms.

The public TV sets the tone for German thinking, yet I find it often very shallow. I won't even get into the anti-Americanism, but in addition to checking out Die Achse Des Gute, you should also look through the archives at David's Medienkritik. I can hardly bear to watch TV news since Obama came on the scene. 

So yes, life in small-town, small-city Germany can be very nice, it is also pretty provincial.

I'm a bottom-up type person.  I would prefer to see conservative groups working with local groups or churches to improve parenting skills. How many of the mothers of these kids know how to read to their kids or select books for them that transmit values? How many of the mothers know how to cook good cheap meals or know the value of regular mealtimes? Do they know how to talk with their kids when they are doing simple chores together about why they are doing something a particular way? Do they know how the importance of rites of passage and how a kid's mastery of a skill can be tied to recognition of his or her making a step to adulthood.

I think that if kids bond with their parents at a young age, that bond will remain even as the kid goes through the rebellious stage.

Heck, I would even like parents to learn to use music with melodies when the kids are very young, so they don't get completely caught up in the trashy rap they will be exposed to later.

Raw Prawn,

I just checked out the date of The Times They Are A Changin. It was copyrighted in 1963.  I suspect that the civil rights movement  (pre Black Panthers) may have been the inspiration. Certainly, the average person at this time didn't anticipate the racial riots, the anti-war movement, or radical feminism.

I'm with King Prawn.  How about telling the boys to act like gentlemen an to seek out girls who respond as ladies? 

Jason,

You might also want to check out the Heather McDonald Classics column up now at City Journal. She describes how the problem of family disintegration was ignored as the gang problem increased. The thought of such young kids being turned loose into such a hellhole makes me furious but it also makes me want to cry.

Part 2: We have to tell them that really opening yourself to another is the bravest thing you can do,  that broken hearts are probably going to happen, that they teach you something important about yourself and how to judge others, and that is important to learn these things before you have children. And we have to tell them that there are certain skills you need before you become a parent. Make the learning of these skills individual small rites of passage.

The patterns are established in kids. They are taught in the schools how to put condoms on bananas instead of what character is and how to build relationships. Homemaking skills have been denigrated such that a girl no longer knows how to make a home for a husband and her family. The goals pushed for poorer kids (college and a good job) are too abstract for 13 and 14 year olds. The pop culture that kids are exposed to is all about coolness and sex, not about relationships.

I think that kids at a young age have to be exposed to stories and films with meaning. They need help to guide them through the insecurities of middle school.  When I saw the pictures of Trayvon Martin at 13 and at 17, my question was how did that cute boy turn into a grid-wearing guy with his middle fingers raised on Facebook. I know his parents were divorced, but still it was the pop culture that filled in the holes in his soul.

I got stuck on the inscription consultant.  Where could I get a grad degree in this field?

Molly,

I recently read an article on the microbiome, which said that some scientists feel that antibiotic usage might be killing off bugs that our bodies need for preventing allergies. One suggestion was that a lack of Heliobacter (the stomach ulcer bug) might result in nut allergies . They seemed to feel that Heliobacter is good for you until about age 37.

I'm sorry I can't remember where I read this, but you might enjoy doing some research on the microbiome. We and our live-in friends are certainly complicated.

Amsterdam is now restricting coffee house sales to locals because the coffee houses were becoming centers for international drug users and dealers.  The same lovely people also bring in foreigners to staff their brothels.

Does anyone really believe that legalization would prevent criminals from selling to kids? 

If you follow the Slate link to the Lynas website, you will see that he shows why the anti-GM movement is harmful to the environment, decreases biodiversity, and causes hunger.  He puts people in a position of having to choose between their favorite causes and may cause some fracturing within the greenie movement. And the wonderful thing is that he shows how unscientific greenies are. It's a great article.

How about To Kill A Mockingbird? It says a lot about fatherhood.