grandparents raising grandchildren

mysteron347

For decades, kids have had their "rights" drummed into them. Not their responsibilities. In consequence, we now have generations who believe that they can do what they will - exercise their "right" to an expensive tertiary education for their own amusement but not use that education to repay its cost to society.

Similarly, they have the "right" to produce children as soon as they can find an appropriate partner (or even without) and it's society's obligation to provide their progeny with sustenance, education and anything else they need.

A hundred years ago, it was not unknown for grandparents to raise children - in fact, it was quite common in the era before curative drugs for the parents to die from now-curable ailments before their children were of working age. Our view is distorted because our parents benefited from the medical advances and survived to care for us, hence our grandparents weren't called upon for this historical role.

We now have more than one generation convinced that it's society's responsibility to provide for the results of their individual decisions - to study some worthless course, to produce children, to experiment with drugs - and increasingly it's the generations with more experience who are picking up the cost - monetary and social.

Time to get back to teaching responsibility first. Once the kids have mastered that idea - then, and only then, do they get to have some rights.