Bing tells troubled city: 'Let's stop the madness'

**firstandten** · February-28-12, 08:56 PM

Originally Posted by Detroitgayhistoryguy

I agree that they should enforce the curfew for those under 18 more, start giving tickets to parents when their children are found out on the streets after 11 p.m. When I was growing up, there was no way I could be out until 2 a.m. I see teenagers out walking around in Detroit at 3-4 in the morning. As for chief Godbee, I really don't think he is doing nearly as good a job as Warren Evans was doing. Evans had "Teams" running around the city targeting problem areas, actually preventing crime rather than showing up 30-45 minutes after a 911 call to take a report.

Bing's management style will not allow a guy like Evans on his team. Our loss

**Detroitgayhistoryguy** · February-28-12, 09:02 PM

Originally Posted by firstandten

Bing's management style will not allow a guy like Evans on his team. Our loss

I agree, aggressive policing is what we need. It is not popular with some African Americans. Maybe, the funerals of children will make more of them change their minds, I hope.

Buy American · February-28-12, 09:14 PM

Warren Evans was a no nonsense Police Chief but he liked the camera too much. He was getting things done though, I will say that. Godbee is a nice guy but not doing the job and is a talking head like Bing.

The police are not lawmakers, they are not confidants, they are not social workers. They are there to protect and serve the community, to enforce the laws of the City of Detroit, the State of Michigan and the U.S.A. They can be taught how to talk to people correctly, how to defend themselves, how to write tickets, chase a thug, shoot a thug, arrest a thug...but they are not there to eliminate the cultural problem that is happening in Detroit. They can't teach civility and they can't teach a young man or young woman how to be a human being, that is supposed to be taught by mom and dad.

As I have said before, a curfew with zero tolerance should be implemented in Detroit. The public will yell and scream that the police are picking on their children and violating their rights, but I think it would curb some of the random murders that is going on.

Occurrence · February-28-12, 09:23 PM

While not the only cause of violence, as long as the failed "war on drugs" continues, violent gangs will always have a source of power and money. Oh well.

Buy American · February-29-12, 12:03 PM

Originally Posted by Detroitnerd

Lecturing poor people about their parenting skills is just political red meat.

You can't change people's parents. You change their children. By offering after-school activities, clubs, sports, opportunities for mentoring. Asking adults to change is the wrong approach, and I say that as the child of troubled parents, OK?

But when you're seen as the ineffective leader of a city that you're basically shutting down because it's failing ...

Are there any after school programs in Detroit? Isn't there a football team or basketball team at just about every high school? Aren't there any clubs at the schools now? Has all that gone by the wayside?

I grew up in a home with no father and my mother and grandparents raised me. Just because you come from a troubled home doesn't make for a bad child. If it weren't for my grandparents, I don't know where I'd be today, but it was their prodding and pushing, dicipline and most of all, love, that got me through.

It wouldn't matter how many after school programs there were or clubs or sports, the kids do what they want to do, and most of the time it would be roaming the streets because they think the gangsta way is the best way.

Bottom line is.... Parents have to be the number one influence in their children's lives from day one. They have to teach kids how to behave, how to respect others, how to live among others, to be a Christian and live by the Golden Rule. When they go to school the first day, they will already have been indoctrinated on how to interact with others. Then, teachers will educated them in reading, writing and arithmetic and the kids will get involved in after school activities.
It's a progression of growth.

**Detroitnerd** · February-29-12, 12:13 PM

Originally Posted by Buy American

Bottom line is.... Parents have to be the number one influence in their children's lives from day one. They have to teach kids how to behave, how to respect others, how to live among others, to be a Christian and live by the Golden Rule. When they go to school the first day, they will already have been indoctrinated on how to interact with others. Then, teachers will educated them in reading, writing and arithmetic and the kids will get involved in after school activities.
It's a progression of growth.

Well, my point is, once a person is an adult and has kids and becomes that bad parent, you really can't change that. All you can do is offer alternatives. This social scolding plays well from a podium, but as far as spending strained social resources, trying to change parents would be a poor strategy. Focus on the kids.

And if you disagree, all you gotta do is go out there and change every fucked-up parent in the world. Sounds like a cake-walk ... right?

**firstandten** · February-29-12, 04:42 PM

Originally Posted by Detroitnerd

Well, my point is, once a person is an adult and has kids and becomes that bad parent, you really can't change that. All you can do is offer alternatives. This social scolding plays well from a podium, but as far as spending strained social resources, trying to change parents would be a poor strategy. Focus on the kids.

And if you disagree, all you gotta do is go out there and change every fucked-up parent in the world. Sounds like a cake-walk ... right?

I do believe that behavior can be modified thru reinforcements both positive and negative.
I feel people make a decision to be a bad parent because in many cases there are no direct consequences to that person for being a bad parent, only society at large feels the consequences of a child that wasn't raised correctly.

Society can put measures in place that makes it uncomfortable for a parent to continue to be a bad parent, be it education, fines, imprisonment or loss of parental rights.

Buy American · February-29-12, 01:02 PM

Originally Posted by Detroitnerd

Well, my point is, once a person is an adult and has kids and becomes that bad parent, you really can't change that. All you can do is offer alternatives. This social scolding plays well from a podium, but as far as spending strained social resources, trying to change parents would be a poor strategy. Focus on the kids.

And if you disagree, all you gotta do is go out there and change every fucked-up parent in the world. Sounds like a cake-walk ... right?

No cake walk for sure. Focusing on the kids would most certainly be a solution, but whose responsibility would that be? My first thought is, of course, the parents, but we'll put them aside for now because they are bad. My second thought would be the extended family, but we'll put them aside as well, because they are bad. Now, there are all the pastors and preachers who are always on TV standing behind the politicians, corrupt or otherwise, maybe they should reach out because they are men of God and want to do right by society. If that doesn't work, there's the teachers. They are there to educate children, not raise them. I'm sure they do their best to help them, they are underpaid souls who have dedicated their lives to the kids. But suppose that doesn't work and the kid still wants to be a gangsta? What then? The police can only do so much, the judicial system can only do so much until one of these kids kills someone.
Maybe the Detroit 300 can help, they seem dedicated to helping some of these kids.
Where to start is anyone's guess, but maybe handing out some condoms or birth control pills would help as well. It looks to me like these young men are planting their seed all over Detroit, don't care if they produce a child or not.....and the young women who are getting pregnant don't know the difference between a birth control pill and an aspirin. Maybe educate them about birth control.
　

**SWMAP** · February-29-12, 01:13 PM

Handing out birth control isn't, at this point, a solution. As I have read, the culture we are speaking of strongly values the fathering of children as a sign of uber-masculinity. Young women enjoy being the woman who has the baby of one of these guys. Since there aren't [[or don't appear to be) a lot of community expectations that they will, together or separately, raise successful young people to any standard and there is at least a minimum of funds appearing monthly from outside sources with which to feed the baby/child, its not considered too hard or onerous to have and raise a kid or many kids.

This a pretty primitive mind-set. Lots of girls and boys have it somewhere inside themselves. It is a societal obligation to help them understand the fallacies. Only then will birth-control education and availability work.