Unsupervised Youth in Pike County (crime, new home, luxury)

[BLUEDIAMOND64]

Today I picked up the Pike County Dispatch where it talks about the youth being left alone and the problems on the rise. It states that children are left alone while parents commute for long periods. This is a growing problem in the area as folks begin to migrate to the Poconos. I also feel that this affects each and every one of us.

[poconosmama]

I saw this many times in a district I worked at and it was sad to see the kids come in to school hungry, not very clean, and no homework done. Grades slipped and parents hardly showed their faces. Their lives are so hurried and jobs were more important than the kids. Shame shame.

[BLUEDIAMOND64]

Poconomama,
There was a study done at NYU that said that children that come home to an empty house are more susceptible to becoming victims of crime or getting in trouble. When I came home from school, Mom was always there for me. Of course my parents sacrificed because money was tight, but their first priority was their children. I agree with you; but I see this as becoming an epidemic that is going to affect all of us on some level. I feel badly for the children.

[MermanMike]

This may be a little rant-ish, but I wonder why people would even have kids if they wanted or needed to work that much just to create the lifestyle they want. If there is no experience of "family", then what's the point?

Things were pretty tight in my family when I was a little guy too but my mom stayed home with us because it was just the only way she would have it. When we were in middle she started working part time, and would be home to get us off the bus. In the highschool years, she started working full time. My parents took the responsibility of raising kids seriously enough to know that more money wasn't what we needed most.

[LNTT_Vacationer]

We had about 45 minutes after school and before mom came home. . . that 45 minutes was directly responsible for about 99% of the trouble we ever got into.

[griffit34]

a little younger (possibley) but will be starting a family in not to distant future. these days you need 2 incomes in most cases to get by, not just for some selfish lifestyle. Hence no mom at home.

but yea most of my troubles were when parents weren't around too.

[BLUEDIAMOND64]

MermanMike,

You are right. Accountability and responsbility are two things many do not understand. It is all about priorities. My first job is to take care of my child. I could not afford to stay where I lived so we moved to NEPA so that I could be home with my daughter. We tightened up our belts.....but I would not have it any other way.

The hat

[FightinPhils]

Originally Posted by MermanMike

This may be a little rant-ish, but I wonder why people would even have kids if they wanted or needed to work that much just to create the lifestyle they want. If there is no experience of "family", then what's the point?

Things were pretty tight in my family when I was a little guy too but my mom stayed home with us because it was just the only way she would have it. When we were in middle she started working part time, and would be home to get us off the bus. In the highschool years, she started working full time. My parents took the responsibility of raising kids seriously enough to know that more money wasn't what we needed most.

That's exactly how I feel, MermanMike, and exactly how we're raising our kids. We make sacrifices so my wife can stay home with the kids. Raising your children right is more important than having a bigger newer house or the latest luxury car. I feel horribly for all of the kids who have parents who value the almighty $$$ more than their own children...especially since this seems to be becoming the norm, especially in the Poconos with long commutes and never being home for the kids. Even on weekends, the kids are probably ignored because that is when the parents probably have to run errands, do shopping, etc. Personally, if I worked in NYC and had kids, I would stay closer to NYC in order to have a normal family life and raise my kids right...even if it meant living in a much smaller less sophisticated home closer to the city. These people who move here want to have their big McMansion, at the expense of their kids.

A majority of the problems in the Poconos is a result of these parents and their neglected kids who have free reign to cause trouble and then join gangs and drink and do drugs to replace the family that they don't have at home. I don't blame the kids....I blame the parents.

[geoffs]

I experienced the results first hand last week when several teens tagged the vinyl siding of my brand new home in Pocono Ranchlands with spraypaint grafitti!

[Summering]

Originally Posted by MermanMike

This may be a little rant-ish, but I wonder why people would even have kids if they wanted or needed to work that much just to create the lifestyle they want. If there is no experience of "family", then what's the point?

Things were pretty tight in my family when I was a little guy too but my mom stayed home with us because it was just the only way she would have it. When we were in middle she started working part time, and would be home to get us off the bus. In the highschool years, she started working full time. My parents took the responsibility of raising kids seriously enough to know that more money wasn't what we needed most.

Thats exactly how I feel...........
This is how we worked things with my own children. Exactly...........
I was a Mom first. Children came first. I did part time later on when all were in school, then as they grew went to full time. I was never more then 5 to 10 minutes away.
I can't imagine working hours from home, leaving my kids until 7/8PM at night.
I know a family that leaves before 5AM, dropping their kids off along the way.
Going off to the city.........returning home 7/8PM. What kind of family life is this? Even the four dogs suffer, all those hours in a garage. Why have the dogs..........or even so many kids.
I'd have a tiny small home before putting my family through a life that
is "family-less"