THE JOURNAL & TOPICS NEWSPAPERS | WEDNESDAY, APRIL 30, 2008

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Giovannelli Central

Parents Carry the Most Weight

in Their Children's Lives

Crimes committed by young folks in schools and our neighborhoods are becoming more and more outrageous. The Chicagoland area went through a weekend this April in which there were over 30 shootings reported. The majority were committed by young people.

Kids throughout the country are engaging in senseless acts of violence, so what's going on? I offer two possibilities:

First - The world is urbanizing at a breathtaking pace. Ten percent of the population lived in cities a century ago; this year we have eclipsed the 50% mark. The United Nations predicts that by 2050 it will be 70 percent. Think about it, gritty urban masses living in ever-shrinking proximity of each other, requiring jobs and amenities. In terms of crime, there already exist dangerous "no-go" areas to visitors and residents alike in our urban neighborhoods.

Second - Over the past few generations, we have lost the notion that if one person has a right, we all have the obligation to honor it. If you have a right to life, I have the obligation to not kill you. In one way or another, we are all obligated by other peoples' rights because we share our humanity. If these obligations are not taught and learned then human rights become fiction.

It is the responsibility of parents to teach their children during the formative years about the obligation and responsibility associated with human rights, and most importantly to teach the child the duty to honor his or her parents. Failure on the part of parents to fulfill their calling as the people who carry the most influence on their child's life contributes greatly to the abhorrent behavior of that child.

Ray served as chief of Police in Niles until his retirement in 2000.