Preach it, sista'!~

Its already April.

I'm happy to say that things are much better since my last post. The first two months of this year were hell. But that's behind me now. Looking forward to the rest of this year and enjoying my DC experience. Already, my friends and I made another trip to Linden for their delicious ice wine while Beth was in town; enjoyed the Broadway play "Doubt" at the National Theatre; organized a glorious picnic lunch on the mall at the Kite Festival; rooted for the Wizards towards their 107-106 win over the Warriors at the Verizon Center; danced at the Village Underground (what a ghetto place) during my trip to NYC; and most importantly sent in my taxes (finally!).

Some friends at work and I have this email chain back and forth on current events, social/political/economic issues, and anything else that we find interesting to discuss. My former project manager sent out a link to a speech delivered by Rebecca Haglin of the Heritage Foundation (http://www.hillsdale.edu/imprimis/2006/04/) and I couldn't help but speak my mind on the issues raised.
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[Former project manager],

As you articulated below, I hope that you read my response to the article in the spirit of open dialogue... As you can probably tell from my other response to the article on Korean wedding gifts, social issues evoke a strong response from me.

First of all, I'm sure Rebecca Hagelin wrote and delivered her speech in the hope of educating and empowering her audience. Unfortunately, I didn’t find it at all educational or empowering. But she does a good job of effectively exploiting the worst fears for parents. I know I won't do justice to my perspective in this email, but I'll try to at least present an overview of my thoughts. Ideally, such debates should be held outside, under the warm sun, with a pitcher of fresh juice within easy reach, kalbi grilling in the background, and Caron Butler popping in for a visit. (smile)

I found her first section titled "Home Invasion" to be one-sided and extreme. I don't disagree with what she describes to be problems and issues present in our society today. Kids can access and consume "bad" media/entertainment/advertising/information/images/etc. as Hagelin argues. But they can also do the same with "good" media/entertainment/advertising/information/images/etc. She fails to portray a holistic view of childhood/teenage life. Essentially, I was disappointed that she doesn't even present a black and white view.... just black.

I also found her recommendations to be somewhat limited and imbalanced. She endorses censorship, filters, and micromanagement - but these should be complemented with openness, trust, risks, and evaluated against the age, maturity level, and situation of the kid/teenager. Only then, will the parent avoid building walls and truly instill a moral compass in the child.

I believe a kid who is raised in the ghettos/projects of any major U.S. urban city and who is bombarded with hip hop, drugs, sex, MTV, and violence daily can be a moral and ethical person- and many times can be even more moral than those kids that are "taught" to be so. Kids and parents who overcome such challenges are bigger heroes to me than those who merely avoid them.

Ultimately, my issue with Hagelin is that she oversimplifies a complicated topic.

Respectfully,
me