NotiPR :: That's All Folks! :: Some TAKE, Some CONTRIBUTE -- That's The REAL Problem!

11.26.04

Some TAKE, Some CONTRIBUTE -- That's The REAL Problem!

By Keith W. Tyras Romanello 2004: 10.22 10.29 11.5 11.12 11.19 12.3 12.10 12.17 12.24 12.31

2005: 1.7 1.14 1.21 1.28 2.4 2.11 2.18 2.25 3.4 3.11 3.18 3.25 4.1 4.8 4.15 4.22 4.29 5.6 5.13 5.20 5.27 6.3 6.10 6.17 6.24 7.1 7.8 7.15 7.22 7.29 8.5 8.12 8.19 8.26 9.2

This past Tuesday I read an article on ENDi.com entitled "Supervisión familiar evita que jóvenes consuman drogas" / "Family Supervision Prevents Youth From Using Drugs" which presents the results of the second part of the recent survey commissioned by the Oficina de Control de Drogas / Office of Drug Control, done by the "Universidad Central del Caribe de Bayamón."

In the report it states, in part:

«La inmensa mayoría de los estudiantes de nivel secundario -96.9 por ciento- opinaron en una encuesta que la supervisión familiar es uno de los factores más efectivos para proteger a los jóvenes al momento de consumir sustancias controladas / The overwhelming majority of secondary level students -96.9%- opined in a survey that family supervision is one of the most effective ways in protecting young people from using controlled substances»

Everyone SHOULD know this, certainly 96.9% of Puerto Rico's youth DO know this -- and most everyone who raises drug-free children into drug-free adults DEFINITELY know this -- and now Puerto Rico's newspaper of record, El Nuevo Día has reported it. I was unable to find this article on any website in English or Spanish anywhere.

Let's hope that our next governor uses these findings and becomes -and is remembered as- Puerto Rico's GREATEST governor of all time and not just the first male governor of Puerto Rico after the first female governor of Puerto Rico.

Even under optimum conditions, in 2004 it is VERY DIFFICULT to raise a child. A happy family, a happily married mom AND dad, both with good-paying jobs is NOT a guarantee that the children in that family will be raised correctly -- BUT THE ODDS ARE VERY GOOD that is exactly what will happen.

When you have less than this, it becomes INCREASINGLY difficult to guarantee anything.

It shouldn't really matter if a kid's parents are married, never married, separated or divorced as long as each kid has a FULL-TIME mom and a FULL-TIME dad. In this case, FULL-TIME means that they are in the kid's life on a regular basis -- NOT 24/7/365.

A kid who is loved and supported by BOTH their MOM AND DAD are MUCH LESS likely to wind up TAKING from society -- and MUCH MORE likely to wind up CONTRIBUTING to society -- assuming the kid's parents are NOT only 10 - 14 - 17 years older than they are.

Puerto Rico's BIG problem today is that too many kids are and have been growing up into adults who prefer TAKING rather than CONTRIBUTING -- and the reason, THE ONLY REASON is the way they ARE BEING RAISED and HAVE BEEN RAISED throughout the past couple of decades.

The abandoned, neglected kids during the past 20 years are now the adults who are TAKING -- and in many cases THROUGH NO FAULT OF THEIR OWN. They are living the lives they were taught to live by example.

EVERY SINGLE DAY we all read or hear about adults TAKING from Puerto Rico, but you RARELY read about their parents today or the absence of their parents during the time they were growing up and the job THEY did producing the people we all read or hear about.

There isn't a country in the world, certainly not the United States, that has a better track record of raising their kids than Puerto Rico -- it can be just as bad everywhere else.

The part of all of this that is MOST DISTURBING is that there isn't a country in the world, certainly not the United States, that has MORE POTENTIAL than Puerto Rico to COMPLETELY REVERSE the destructive cycle of those raised to TAKE rather than CONTRIBUTE -- The ROOT problem MUST be ATTACKED!

According to a recent study released in the United States, only Mississippi and Washington, D.C. have a higher rate of young girls 10 - 14 years of age having babies than Puerto Rico - "Nacimientos de madres adolescentes bajan a mínimo desde 1946" / "The Birth Rate Among American Girls Ages 10 To 14 Has Fallen To Its Lowest Level Since 1946" - and according to a recent ENDi.com survey in which 1,513 people participated, a whopping 92% feel that the problem of babies having babies will either get worse or remain the same:

«Sólo Mississipi y Washington, D.C. tienen una tasa más alta que Puerto Rico en la incidencia de niñas que a la temprana edad de entre 10 y 14 años se convierten en madres, según un nuevo informe del Gobierno federal. ¿Piensa usted que esta situación:

Seguirá en aumento - 79.2 % - 1198 votos
Se mantendrá - 12.8 % - 193 votos
Disminuirá - 4.1 % - 62 votos
Desconozco la situación - 4.0 % - 60 votos»

Isn't the success and future of ANY SOCIETY dependent on keeping the number of kids born to parents who are only 10 - 14 years older than they are to AN ABSOLUTE MINIMUM?

Just check out the MURDER RATES and all the other SOCIAL ILLS that people in Mississippi and Washington, D.C. face -- AMAZINGLY SIMILAR to those problems Puerto Rico faces.

Just a COINCIDENCE? I don't think so!

WORKING AS A TEAM is the ONLY solution. It's SO EASY to do -- yet SO DIFFICULT getting the people in power to consider doing it in a BIG way, PERMANENTLY and SO DIFFICULT getting the people WITH power to get the people IN power to do A LOT BETTER.

Let's also hope that our next governor becomes -and is remembered as- Puerto Rico's GREATEST CONTRIBUTOR and not a carbon copy of what got us into the mess we are in today -- NOT because they all didn't try, but because none succeeded in a BIG way IGNORING the ROOT causes of our most serious problems.

Wouldn't it be better for all of us if a governor of Puerto Rico and a U.S. president served ONE six-year term and spent their entire ONE SHOT at their legacy actually doing A LOT of BIG things in a BIG way rather than running for reelection or planning their lives after leaving office?

If this were a reality, ALONG WITH the provision that they could be voted OUT OF OFFICE -- with a 75% majority vote in the regularly scheduled national elections during their 4th year -- Puerto Rico and the U.S. would both become A LOT better.

If they did in fact lose a no-confidence vote they could be replaced immediately by the highest ranking politician in the opposition party. I believe MOST politicians would rather lose an election than be KICKED OUT OF OFFICE. This would more or less INSURE they spent their time CONTRIBUTING rather than TAKING.

Well, that's all folks! Until next Friday.

Keith

For motivational speeches, conferences, media requests and other things such as eating disorders, you'll have to contact someone else. My only qualifications for writing a weekly column are based solely upon having a lot of free time, unlimited Internet access and very little else.