Handouts

A woman in Akron, Ohio wanted the best for her children.  So, she made the choice to lie on a government form in order to send her children to a better school.  When she was caught, everyone was outraged at the fact that this woman was being persecuted.  The claims were that she was only breaking the law to provide a better future for her children and that she would not have been investigated had she not been a single black woman.  I have two kids and, believe me, I can understand wanting what is best for them.  But I think society needs to take a step back and question how we are going about getting the best for our children.

                The fact of the matter is, this woman did in fact break the law.  She made the choice to lie on the forms knowing that there could be consequences for those actions.  I love my children, but I am not about to lie for them.  What message would that be sending?  Do not lie to me, but I am going to lie to the government.  Do not cheat in school to get a better grade, but I am going to cheat these tax payers to give you a better life. 

                American’s need to stop thinking that just because they want something, they are entitled to it.  I would like to feed my kids healthier, fresher foods, but because my family is on a tight budget, I have to stick with buying whatever is on sale.  More often than not, a bag of chips is cheaper than a bag of apples, so that is what comes home.  Would I be justified in stealing groceries from the store because I want better food for my children.  Probably not.

                And how does everyone think the people who actually live in the neighborhoods with the high taxes and nice schools got there?  They worked for it.  They worked to get good grades in high school so they could go to college.  They worked in college, so they could get a good job.  I have no idea why people feel like they can screw around in life, get themselves pregnant, and then feel because of that fact everything should be handed to them.  I spent the first two years of my child life working forty hours a week at a job I hated, so my husband could finish school.  I will never have that time back with my daughter.  My daughter wore hand me down clothes and we budgeted ourself as tightly as we could and went without more often than not.  We  made the sacrifices necessary to ensure her and our future children a better life.  Yet, when it comes time for her to go to college, who do you think is going to get help from the government to go there, the daughter from a hard working middle class family or the daughter who is a minority from a low income family?     

                Societies start to crumble when we begin justifying breaking the law.  When we allow sob stories to distort the reality of the situation.  This woman had options, but she chose to take the easy way out and to lie.  If she truly felt the situation was unfair, she could have moved in with her father.  She could have signed her kids over to him, if she really wanted them to go to that school.  She could have written the school board or worked to get the law that kept her out of that school system changed so that she could legally attend that school.  But all of those options would have been a lot more work than simply falsifying information on a government form.  So did she really want what was best for her children, or did she just see an easy way into a better life and grab onto it?

                American, stop holding your hands out and start putting them to work.  Teach your children that if they want a better life, they need to work for it.  Look at the mistakes and wrong turns you took in your own life and make sure your children do not make the same ones.  Or you could just sit around and wait for someone to hand everything to you.  You let me know how that works out.