Don't Give Me a Bad Name

Why, oh why, do others have to ruin it for good people like me? After reading Lolo's rant I felt really upset and not only upset for that poor child with an idiot of a mother. Great, she's a teen parent and she's fucking up big time, not only screwing herself but casting a bad light on teen parents in general. I know my friends and family will not fall for this generalization but others out there will.

I completely agree with anyone who thinks that there should be a licence required to become parents.

Two years ago there was a proposed early (like noon or something) Friday dismissal at Kiddo's school and the Boys and Girls Club (after school drop in center) would not be able to accommodate this so it was brought to a vote. Either choose to keep the early day on Wednesday or make the change. This was discussed at one of the PAC (parent advisory committee) meetings and all the whinings of the parents were sent home in the minutes. I was outraged! This is a letter that I wrote to the School District Supervisor (who also happened to be my old high school principal).

Dear Mr. Little,

I am writing in response to the letter from a concerned parent dated April 21, 2004 regarding the early Friday dismissal that has been proposed for the 2004/2005 school year.

After becoming a parent at a young age, I enrolled in the Teen Parent program and became a member of the graduating class of 1998, which was also your last year as Principal there.

Now I am a single, working parent with a child that attends this elementary school. While I am not certain how I am going to be voting in regards to the early dismissal, I was thoroughly disgusted at some of these parents’ views and reactions. I cannot believe how whiny and selfish some of these adults are acting.

It is my sole responsibility to ensure that homework is complete and lunches are made the night before and that my child and I are up, dressed, fed, and ready to leave the house at 7:30 am. When someone else says “it would be nearly impossible to have my child ready and at school by 8:30” as opposed to 8:50, I really don’t think they are trying hard enough. One thing I have learned is that being a parent also means being flexible.

Some people are concerned with a possible 4 day school week, wondering what it good would teach the children. I strongly believe this would teach children about the real world. Have none of these parents ever heard of shift work? The world does not operate strictly Monday to Friday 8:50 am to 3:00 pm. Also noted in the letter was that it would create a problem with truancy as families would be taking a lot more 3 day weekends (with parents staying home to watch their children). How is this a child’s problem? The parents are supposed to be the adults here and if they are taking extra time off work when they shouldn't’t be, then they obviously aren't’t thinking about setting a good example for their children are they?

Teen parents often are automatically given a bad reputation a lot of flack, so I have had to work harder at everything I do to prove people wrong and have done everything in my powers to show people that I’m a responsible parent. When I hear others whining like children, it disgusts me. I used to think I was the one who maybe wasn’t quite ready to be a parent. Boy was I wrong.