Teen Mania(cs)

Being a teenager is tough stuff. You have to deal with all those hormones, feelings, relationships, the pressures of life, school, sports, work, etc... I think that growing up as a teenager in the "hood" may be considerably harder. Over the past year back at good ole 80s, I have encountered teens with all kinds of problems: drug overdoses, shootings, stabbings, being jumped by gangs, robberies, teen pregnancies, suicides, cutting, you name it. I remember 3 teens in particular. The following are their/our stories.

We made a minor MVC(motor vehicle accident) at an intersection. I was driving the pumper(engine), and the first appalling, gruesome, stomach sickening thing we all noticed was a teenage girl, age 15, with short shorts, cellulite-booty hanging out, and the words F*#K ME written across the bottom standing on the sidewalk hugged up to some punk that looked to be in his mid 20s. In the car that caused the accident was a woman who was smoking, she looked like the kind of woman who has lived a hard life and waits at Waffle House. She happened to be the mother of the hussy who was advertising the services of her unattractive backside. The bystanders, and wrecker driver came over to us and told us that the teen had actually been driving and that the mother showed up and was trying to take the fall for the girl because she did not have a driver's license. Everything is wrong with this situation! The mother is allowing her daughter to dress like a $2 hoe and to be used by some punk who is not able to date a woman in his own age range, so he preys on young girls who are lacking self worth. She is also teaching her how to lie, cheat, be dishonest and not letting her suffer the consequences of her illegal actions. Parents need to be parents. Not friends. They need to stand up and set boundaries, guidelines, and proper discipline. They need to be the ones setting the example and teaching morals, values and integrity. That woman should be ashamed of herself.

Teen call #2 to remember: We arrived on scene to find an elderly lady wielding a foot and a half broken off leg of a walker as a sword, yelling at her grandson who was sitting in the van in the drive way. The boy was a 12 year old who decided that he was not going to obey his grandmother. Thankfully, Granny don't play that. The grandmother was asking him to get ready for sports camp. The lazy, plump, in desperate need of a workout- boy refused and told his grandmother that he wasn't going. She then, in not so many words told him staying home was not an option. He then bowed up to granny and pushed her out of his way. She may or may not have hit him in the mouth. He then went to the kitchen and got a knife and told her he was going to kill her. So she called 911 and may or may not have hit him again, maybe with her makeshift billy club ;) and got control of the knife. She called 911. He was crying like a big baby and went on and on about how terrible his life was, and how evil his granny was for not taking his "no" for an answer. BRAVO, Granny! Bravo! The lady above could learn a thing or two about not taking any shenanigans from a child. We need more parents and grandparents like Granny.

The saddest, and yet my favorite memory of the teens in our territory is about a 5ft 10in, 155lb 15 year old young man who had to confront his 6ft 4in, 300+ pound dad. The couple was going through a divorce because the mother had had enough of being abused by the overgrown coward. In that night, the man had come twice. The first time he came, he tore down the garage door with both hands, and kicked in the door to the house. For some reason he left, and the family barricaded themselves in their home. He later returned, shut off the power and kicked in the back door. He then went to the mom's room and began beating on her. The son picked up his reliable Louisville Slugger and went to home run derby town on his dad's fat head. When we arrived, we found the scumbag lying on the driveway, both eyes swollen shut, baseball sized lumps all over his head, crying like a little girl. He got what he deserved. Justice was served. Needless to say, he got zero sympathy from us. I have never felt so sad for and so proud of a young man in my life. That young man made the manly decision to protect his family against a perpetrator who shared his DNA. That night, the boy became a man, way too soon.

Yup, life is hard. Parenting is hard. Single parenting is harder. The common denominator in all three of the above scenarios was: the dads. Somewhere along the lines, men have disappeared. This generation has often been referred to as the "Fatherless Generation." The family unit as God intended it to be is on its last leg. Men have abandoned their families for work, "freedom," drugs, crime, and/or another man/woman. The only hope for the family and for these kids is for them to know the truth that there is a Heavenly Father who LOVES them, cares for them, who will never leave them or abandon them. Its time that men stop letting single moms, grannies, schools, daycares and churches raise their own children. Its time they start loving their wives and kids, being the priests of their households, protectors and providers. Its time they start teaching their families about God, His Word, and His unfailing love. See Deuteronomy 6. We have enough donors, we need more Dads!