What's Happening with Today's Youth?

I heard a disturbing news report this morning about a high school in Memphis Tennessee named Frayser High School. Now, no one has been shot, this story was not another Columbine situation, but it kind of surprised me when I heard the school's motto, which is...."Excellence is our expectation.....No excuses!" That's not the shocking part. What shocked me is that in this particular high school (which has an enrollment of 800 students) there are currently 90 that's right NINETY young ladies (in this current school year) who have recently given birth or who are currently expecting a child!!!

That's a pretty staggering number....90 out of 800 is 11.25% of the school attendance! Are we so clueless as parents or as administrators in the school that we don't see the signs of a growing problem? Where were the parents in this debacle? Where were the administrators or guidance counselors in helping this young women to make smarter decisions? Now, don't get me wrong....this isn't and CAN'T be put only on the young women. As a young black man, whose wife is expecting their first child, I can't help but be embarrassed by and ashamed of the young men who were/are involved in this epidemic.

Ask yourself....when you were in high school....how many people did you know that had jobs and could support a child? I think about the few girls who got pregnant in my high school and they had no idea what they were going to do! They had no plan, they were children having children. This is the same thing happening in this small area of Frayser. Think about the areas where the unemployment rate is rather high, such as Memphis, TN (9.7% unemployment as of November 2010), do you think these kids have any clue as to how they're going to care for a newborn??? I seriously doubt it! I'm 26 years old, and my wife and myself are expecting our first child about a month before our five year anniversary, and to tell you the truth....I have no clue what I'm doing, but I have a job, I have a house, and I'm in a better position to bring a child into this world.

What would possess anyone to have unprotected sex and get pregnant (some as young as 14 or 15 years old)? Again, I ask.....where were the parents? Where were the role models to help these kids learn that if they're going to have sex (which at 15 they shouldn't be anyway) that they should definitely be protected? Aside from the possibility of someone getting pregnant, what about the deadly incurable diseases that are running rampant in this world today? According to www.worldaidsday.org, over 430,000 children under the age of 15 were infected with HIV in the year 2007 alone! And one could only imagine that those numbers have gone up drastically in the last 3-4 years!!!

We have to do better as a people. Not just as black people, but as people in general! The future of our children depend on it. We have to be better tuned in with our children and know what's going on in their lives. We can't try to be their best friends, we have a responsibility as PARENTS to be just that......PARENTS!

Remember......"You're Worth It!"

J. Earl Smith

@JSmith2523 on Twitter

knourworth@hotmail.com

www.smashwords.com/books/view/24495.

Don't Play His Roll

It's funny to me when I hear these so-called relationship experts and matchmakers say that women need to change who they are or start acting like a man in order to find love. I mean, really think about that concept. Why would God have created men and women with such different emotional makeups, if he intended, all of us to be exactly the same? What fun would it be, if we all thought the exact same way?

There'd be no variety, and life would be an intense shade of boredom. I mean really, why should women need to learn to be "like" a man, in order to land one??? In my opinion, if a woman has to be more like a man in order to catch the attention of a man, then couldn't the argument be made that he may have actually been searching for a man!!! That may not be politically correct to say, but that's how I feel. No woman should have to compromise her emotional makeup in an attempt to feel more connected to a man. Chances are....if that's what a "man" is looking for....he's looking for someone who's equipped the same way he is.

It breaks my heart when I see young women having to play roll of mommy and daddy at the same time. Having to lose some of that femininity within themselves in order to assure that if they're raising a boy, he turns into a MAN!!! This is a difficult situation for any woman to find herself in; especially since this isn't the roll that God designed for women (but we'll get into that another time).

Overall ladies....don't allow yourselves to be changed and transform into something you weren't meant to be. This goes for those ladies out there who allow themselves to be turned into the head of the household, primary breadwinner, and decision maker, while some good for nothing guy mooches off their hard work.

Remember....."You're Worth It"
@JSmith2523 on Twitter
www.knourworth.blogspot.com
www.smashwords.com/books/view/24495

New Year.....New Horizons!

So far this new year is looking very promising.

My wife and I are doing good, her pregnancy is moving along nicely....she's due in May. We're having a little boy....which is exactly what I wanted. A little "mini-me"...I'm very excited! 2011 is going to be a great year not only for me, but for my family.

I'm getting more responsibility at my job, pay increases are happening this month, and I should be able to have the re-write to my book completed/ready for publishing and ready to be available for sale on amazon.com.

I think this is the most excited I've been for the start of a new year in a VERY long time.

Also with 2011, I'm planning on keeping this blog up to date more, filling it with even more interesting articles that can help anyone with their relationship, as well as developing it into even more than it currently is, in order to get "into the hands" of more readers and gain more followers.

Hope everyone else's 2011, is starting off as good as mine, and if it's not.....you have the power to make it better!

Remember......"You're Worth It!"

J. Earl Smith

@JSmith2523 on Twitter

knourworth@hotmail.com

www.smashwords.com/books/view/24495.