Everything Frank Murtaugh has said on this is the right way to think. It is a bad ideology to say all alcohol is bad: there are legitimate levels and contexts for alcohol use, and illigitimate contexts for alcohol use. Teenagers drinking 40s on the front porch is illigitimate. Men without substance abuse problems having a drink or two at the bar is ok.
The same goes for violence. There are legitimate uses of violence and illegitimate. A zero tolerance of violence just leads to punks having a monopoly on violence: what used to be simple one on one fights end up being ghetto stomps of many against a few. What used to be a lecture and maybe a caning in the principals office ends up being expulsion or prison time.
then there are the calls for "traditional values". The movie "Whale rider" was on friday. It is about these New Zealanders. The young adults and kids are being corrupted by rap music and cigarette smoking and reckless driving habits. So this old man teaches them the traditional maori dance moves. But that isn't enough: in the end this girl has to ride a whale.
In America we have other traditions: it used to be pretty easy for young folks to wander away and get summer jobs as agricultural labor. It even pays better than most fast food jobs. That's what the guidance counselors and internet should make available for many "at risk" kids. They could live in bunk houses and sing old Spirituals and folk songs in the fields. That would enable them to appreciate the educational opportunities and urban amenities they squander. More money is spent per student in cleveland than in Bay Village, Westlake, Avon Lake, Rocky River, etc...
Polensek
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ryan costa
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