Dear Editor:
I heard a pastor quote statistics about families during his Father's Day message. It brought back a memory of another message I had heard long ago. We older folks who grew up on farms with livestock can visualize the lane that ran from the barnyard back to the pasture field. The lane was fenced to keep the cows from straying. Society, individuals, not the government, used to provide those "fences" to keep children from straying, even if their parents refused to accept such responsibility.
Adults should have the freedom to live their lives in any manner they so choose, right up to the point where their freedom reduces the freedom of someone else; however not all lifestyle choices are equally beneficial for the individual. In the '60s and early '70s there was an air of "if it feels good do it." At the same time there was still an inward acceptance by most that we might well suffer the consequences of our impetuous actions.
Many of those in recent generations seem to have embraced the "if it feels good do it" philosophy without any thought of consequences. They believe that the negative consequences for their choices must be mitigated by the sacrifices of others. Society seems to have accepted the premise that we must silently bear the burden or remediating the results of others poor lifestyle choices. The fences are gone. If we speak out we are branded racists, homophobes, misogynists, etc.
Unwed mothers account for 35 percent of all white births (up from less than five percent in 1960), 50 percent of Hispanic births (up from less than 40 percent in 1990, the earliest year for which I could find statistics) and 70 percent of black births (up from 20 percent in 1960). Twenty-five percent of white children now live in single parent homes, as do 40 percent of Hispanic children and 65 percent of black children.
Thirty-eight percent of black children live in poverty, as do 30 percent of Hispanic children and 10 percent of white children; the vast majority of them live in single parent homes.
Society must rebuild "fences," by speaking out forcefully if we have any hope of reducing the poverty, school problems and crime associated with single-family parenting. Twenty-five trillion dollars spent on anti-poverty programs over the past 50 years hasn't worked.
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