There are no bad kids, there are only bad parents. I say this all of the time, and usually end up defending it to a parent who seems convinced that some kids are so insufferable, no parenting would have mattered.
When an adult argues that there's something in the gene pool that turns children into delinquents, you can assume two things: 1) that parent had or has rotton kids, and 2) that you've just heard an incredible crock of crap. Sure, some infants are born with genetic mental or physical defects, but none are born inately bad.
Bad kids are a direct by-product of bad parenting. And bad parenting doesn't mean abusive parenting - there are a lot of ways to be a bad parent. One example is the parent who compensates for never being around their kids, by giving their kids whatever they want. They're the ones most likely to think they're great parents, when just the opposite is true. Their kids will not contribute to society.
Another one of the worst kinds of bad parents are the enablers. You know, the kind whose kids never do anything wrong, and if they do, believe everything their kid says in defending their actions. Here again, they think they're great parents, but really they suck at it. Those kids eventually leave home, then get their asses kicked by the real world. Or they never leave home, to avoid getting their asses kicked.
To be fair, bad parents are often the product of a poor environment, perhaps from an abusive past, or from having kids too young. However, most of the bad behavior I see in my white-bred suburban lfe comes from comes from children of well-to-do parents. Go figure.
If we want to reduced juvenile delinquency, let's cut of the snake's head. Stop focusing on the bad kids, and start calling out the bad parents.
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