[Kelli]

I heard about this report on the radio. Indeed, very sad. I wasn't terribly surprised however, because I see examples of this every day in downtown where I work. What's even scarier to me is that I see a lot of these same issues and behaviors in our young girls/women as well. Hardly a day goes by when I don't feel upset, surprised, or saddened by some of the things I see our youth doing or saying. None of this stuff would have been allowed in my house growing up. For that matter I wouldn't have been allowed to hang out downtown with friends at 4:00 in the afternoon. The fact that there really wasn't a downtown where I lived makes no difference. We couldn't "hang." Even though my parents worked there was no sneaking out. They always knew where we were (home or an activity) and there were big consequences to pay if we weren't on point.

Terrible schools, absent parents, racism, the decline in blue collar jobs and a subculture that glorifies swagger over work have all been cited as causes of the deepening ruin of black youths.

Yup, no surprise there.