Time To Harden Up, People!

This weekend I read an editorial piece in The Sunday Telegraph that sparked my interest. Written by Miranda Devine, it is titled 'A Generation Of Dopes'. It looks at the growing use of marijuana among young teenagers and the fact that children are growing up in a society that is starting to take this issue lightly. Her article stems from a news story in which three boys were expelled from a prestigious school for attempting to sell marijuana to their fellow classmates, as well as the recent story in which a 14-year old boy was arrested in Bali for marijuana possession.
Devine starts by noting that some counsellors and other figures of authority are too lenient on these boys, in that it is perfectly normal and harmless to experiment. What a joke. Such sentiments are irresponsible and blatantly permit young people to use drugs. Devine notes that while there will always be some people who experiment with drugs more work should be made towards minimising numbers rather than taking a lackadaisical approach. People can blame TV, music and movies all they want for the glamorisation of this culture but at the end of the day it is up to parents and the appropriate authorities to teach their kids what is right and wrong.

Devine then moves onto the teenager arrested in Bali and how Indonesian authorities have done more to punish this kid for his stupidity than the Australian media and political leaders have. In fact, when news of his arrest came out the dominant response from the Australian media was that of outrage TOWARDS THE INDONESIAN AUTHORITIES WHO ARRESTED HIM RATHER THAN TOWARDS THE KID FOR HIS MISTAKE. Devine notes that according to the NSW Central Coast police (where the boy comes from), had they been the ones who caught him for the crime he would be let off with a slap on the wrist and nothing more since the court would not take the matter seriously.
To make it worse, Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard and Foreign Affairs Minister Kevin Rudd appeared to race against each other to bring the boy home and NOT ONCE did they express disappointment or disgust over his stupid behaviour (for anyone reading this who thinks I'm being too hard on the boy, it is because what he did was absolutely dumb and does NOT deserve any sympathy). Instead, they only seemed to care about the accolades that awaited them once they've unashamedly flouted and disrespected another country's laws and brought the kid home where there's a chance he could be treated as a celebrity. I think it is an absolute shame that another country has to discipline some punk kid on their own just because his own countrymen and women weren't more willing to do so. Sure, the kid has been facing criticism from all sides for what he did but those who weren't more willing to punish him for what he did are just as bad, if not worse than he is.

Time to get tougher on these kids, people. What ever did happen to disciplining kids when they do something wrong? At the risk of sounding like a cranky old fart, but back in my day, when you screwed up you either heard it loud and clear from your parents or got a slap in the backside or a clip on the ear. There is nothing wrong with disciplining your kid when they do something wrong just as long as it's not too brutal and will resort in you going to jail for child abuse. Once you start getting soft on these kids, they not only stray but they start to believe that they can do anything they want without considering the consequences.