#WarriorPoet- WE AIN’T FRIENDS

As she walked through the halls of Peterson Middle School, All eyes were on her. She was already fairly popular but today her reputation would go through the roof! Not because she scored the highest on a test. Not because she lit smoke bombs in the boy’s bathroom but because her t-shirt read, “Future Porn Star.” Some of you may think that these things don’t exist and that I’m using this as a fairy tale story to set up today’s topic:

As he showed up at Summer Camp with his wide eyes, eager spirit, duffel bag, and camper’s handbook, he looked around at the trees and took a long inhale of the fresh air. He was in the company of other teens and pre-teens and felt good about what lie before him over the course of the next 10 days. He couldn’t help but notice the looks that he was getting from the camp counselors though. Although, he had his camper’s handbook in tow, he obviously skipped chapter 4 and the dress code specifics because this is the shirt he had on:

In both cases the children were spoken to about these shirts and the messages on them, and then their parents were notified. Instantly, the parents responded with, “OMG, I had no idea that they even owned a shirt like that!” OR “I am so sorry, this will never happen again. This is not the way that we raised them to represent themselves nor our family.“

NOT!!!

The parents actually defended these children. The parents explained to the principal and camp counselors that this is freedom of expression. The parents threatened to get lawyers involved if any type of disciplinary action was taken against these children. And the children stood by with smirks on their faces as their parents stood up for them in defense of these acts. The root of this all is a problem that I see often and is getting worse by the minute…

TOO MANY ADULTS ARE MORE CONCERNED WITH BEING FRIENDS WITH THEIR CHILDREN THAN THEY ARE WITH BEING MENTORS, GUIDANCE, SOURCES OF WISDOM, DISCIPLINARIANS, AND UMMMM… PARENTS TO THEIR CHILDREN.

 It doesn’t help that some of these parents are actually children themselves. And I don’t mean in age, I mean in overall mentality and level of maturity. I have a program called Pens Of Power and I come in contact with some of the most interesting parent to child situations. I’ve seen kids call their parents at work from school on a cell phone that their parents told them not to bring to school and simply respond to the parent with, “Aight chill, Ma! Ok, you don’t have to yell but I’mma text Grandma right quick and then I’ll shut it off” and then hang up and make another call… AND THEN come to school the next day and still manage to have all of their teeth!!! HOW?!? I had this one female student whose mom is a drug dealer, whose father is locked up for God knows how long for the same reason, whose attitude is terrible yet wears all of the newest, flyest, most expensive clothes, who got banned from the senior trip because of her low performance AND was involved in an act that got the senior prom taken away from the entire graduation class. Guess what her mom did… She told the school, “I gets money! I ain’t nuffin!” then proceeds to pay out-of-pocket for the graduating class to have a prom and slaps the school in the face by doing it at the same venue that the school was originally going to use for the prom… VHUT?!?!?!

If this post is making you uncomfortable as a parent, guardian, aunt, uncle, God-parent, etc… Then GOOD!!! And I hope you squirm in your seat and hopefully squirm and slide hard enough that you fall off the chair, hit your head, and go blank for a minute so that God can pump some of that rum candy our of your system because that’s obviously what you enjoy! Being a parent is THE MOST IMPORTANT JOB you can have. I’m not a parent so there are plenty of things that I can’t relate to personally but I know for a fact that it’s also the hardest job that you can have. I get it! But what I’ve also seen is that if you put in the right balance of guidance, discipline, care, etc… at a young age, then you won’t have as hard of a time later trying to lay down the law. These lil jokers ain’t your friends! There needs to be a component of friendship included in the dynamic but THEY AIN’T YOUR FRIENDS!!! When I’m doing these Pens Of Power workshops, they look at me in a big brother light. And that’s cool, but I purposely go out of my way to make it known, I’M NOT YOUR FRIEND. That line needs to be drawn, respected and upheld. And believe it or not, there’s actually some weird mechanism within the minds of children that actually WANTS discipline. Have you ever noticed how a young child responds to an adult after they’ve been disciplined and their embarrassment/sadness fades away? It’s like God placed something in them that makes them need it, even though it doesn’t necessarily feel good. Again… tell them lil suckas WE AIN’T FRIENDS!!!

*SIGH… Now… If you know a child between the ages of 13 & 18 who would like to not be my friend (lol) but join the Pens Of Power writing camps that I’m giving, starting next week, then click the logo below and check out the details. Send it to a co-worker, a friend, a neighbor who has a child that can benefit from a camp like this! One is FREE and one is a bit more exclusive and comes with a minimal registration fee. All of the details are below. 

I’ll teach em how to get their pen-game sick from both a creative and educational standpoint. I’ll have fun and be cool with them. I’ll even make em love me but I’ll be clear with em from the jump… WE AIN’T FR… well, you get the point.  

 

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FRξSH PЯINCξ OF BЯOOKLYN | ManOfGod | American Music Award Winning Writer | Thespian | 1/2 of ME&MYBROTHER | #TeamElexis | #TeamSuperStupid | #ChixDigMe | #GreyGooseAllStars    #WAЯЯiORPOξT