I Wish I Had Waited - AfroChat - African American

slylett · November 18th, 2004, 04:31 PM

In today’s society our children are being challenged more and more to do the wrong thing(s). Being an active leader in the community ranging from Boy Scouts, PTA to Girl Scouting, I have seen my share of heart breaking stories.

Today’s adolescents are faced with insurmountable peer pressure. They are forced to make decisions and choices, which made poorly, can affect the rest of their lives.

In the new novel I Wish I Had Waited, meet three girls who make choices, which will impact their lives as well as those around them.

Chelbe · November 18th, 2004, 08:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by slylett

In today’s society our children are being challenged more and more to do the wrong thing(s).
Today’s adolescents are faced with insurmountable peer pressure. They are forced to make decisions and choices, which made poorly, can affect the rest of their lives.

Well put and I agree.
Also, it seems like they're having to make rash decisions and choices at younger and younger ages without having different life experiences to aide them making the right decisions. It seems like there is a whole stage in life that is missing (the adolescent stage) and I feel like we (in general) have let our children down.

elmb · November 27th, 2004, 12:43 PM

I never knew that when I didn't complete my studies in college that 10 years later I would have gotten an honorary degree in Social Work, Psychology, Forensic Psych (for those deviant days), Child Behavior and many more.

Needless to say, my 10 year old son has me sleeping let alone thinking on my toes. He is honest and that is my saving grace b/c he has told me he feels pressured and influenced to do certain things. I have to them combat that with our way of living with morals with my own strong arm of the law ( which doesn't necessarily mean beat him because I don't want him growing up thinking that is your only way to deal with problems), I then have to talk and go down memory lane from when I was a child, and bring him back to today with all of the black on black killings and the police not necessarily having his young black male interest at heart. It isn't easy and it's a daily prayer from sun up to sun down.

It's Meeee · November 27th, 2004, 05:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chelbe

Well put and I agree.
Also, it seems like they're having to make rash decisions and choices at younger and younger ages without having different life experiences to aide them making the right decisions. It seems like there is a whole stage in life that is missing (the adolescent stage) and I feel like we (in general) have let our children down.

Yes Chelbe I concur, something is missing when young girls want to have 'real live baby dolls' and they are just babies themselves. In a spiritual sense, we need a true revival in the black community. Get back to the good, moral values we used to adhere to. Those young girls are feeling 'unloved' to want to have a baby to 'love them.' Something is dreadfully wrong.

A baby having a baby cannot possibly equip that child to function in the world in a successful way. Rare is the case, and usually it is children from these environments that end up in a self-destructive cycle of crime, imprisonment and early deaths. It's unfortunate.

sumayyah · November 28th, 2004, 04:13 PM

Oh, I have got to finish getting my stuff together so that I can tell some of these young girls how to empower themselves without resorting to sex at an early age. Yeah, I wish I had waited, and I wish someone was there to tell me why I should have. But if we can teach the boys to respect themselves AND THE YOUNG WOMEN, too, we can teach the girls to respect themselves, and that love does not come in a 3 pack of Trojans and/or a "live baby doll." Yuo have to love yourself before you can love anyone else.

urfan2c · November 29th, 2004, 12:02 AM

I want to read that novel. I'm actually majoring in psych to deal with children in the public school system. So many of them have so much heartache to last a lifetime in a few short years. So many challenges facing them. It's so hard to be young these days, but they need to know someone is in their corner and they have a voice that matters.

DBlack · November 29th, 2004, 01:09 AM

Guess I need to dust off my shotgun.....

Naw, seriously, we are in very turbulent times. Morality is taking a backseat to instant gratification and the materialistic monster fed by capitalism. Yes, we do live in the greatest and freeest country in the world, but we have grossly forsaken morals in pursuit of our freedoms.

Having said that, we simply must do all we can to keep our kids connected with us. Every generation will grow up faster than the previous, don't fool yourself into thinking otherwise. But our relationships with our kids IS, and Always WILL BE the best array of armament against a morally perilous world.

elmb · November 29th, 2004, 03:10 AM

I had to recently talk to my son about masturbation. We'll call it feeling good down there for the moment. Taking longer showers, catching a few times when they are in their bed thinking no one is looking. Is it nasty? No, let's keep it real, we allllllllllllllllllllllllllll finally realized one day that washing certain body parts feels better than others. Did your parents talk to you about it. Not me? Thought I was weird or a pervert. I'm going to talk about any and everything he allows me to talk about. I told tell him he is normal and then I explained the morality of it and how it is a personal thing. The hygenic point of, wash your doggon hands ALOT, and then I had to go into the pre-sex talk. You know that is next right. I put it out there at the end, when you think you are ready for someone else to touch you down there, come talk to me. We will deal with it together. I am so blessed that he will talk to me. We have to leave the lines of communication open and leave NO topic undiscussable.