" Children are the product of the environment they grow up in; and in our present day, divorce and cheating on a loved one is as common as leaves on a tree."

EVERY year we collectively spend millions of dollars on cigarettes and alcohol. Our hard earned money is flushed down the toilette in a world where we complain that the economy is bad; but imagine all the money people would save if they didn't spend it all on weed and lottery tickets. It seems to me that people get lost in a false hope that these things will ease their pain when all it will do is make things worse. This culture is one in which adults and parents are abandoning mature behavior and passing it on to their children. This is an irresponsible and selfish choice; it is not uncommon for people to live to be one hundred these days, and spending your life coughing up mucus every morning in a depressed state of mind is a horrible way to spend decade after decade. Children see this and it sets a tone for them as well. Children are the product of the environment they grow up in; and in our present day, divorce and cheating on a loved one is as common as leaves on a tree. I am continuously amazed at how casual we are towards relationships. Treating a wife, girlfriend, husband or boyfriend as an object which can be replaced once you are bored of them has become the norm. There was a time when people were loyal to each other, and now the concept of two people staying together for life is seen as a bizarre concept to the kids of today. Men have developed a new ideology that if a guy simply has a girlfriend and is “not married yet” than it is okay for him to pick up other woman when his girlfriend is not around. Going to a strip club for a bachelor party and doing things which could jeopardize the relationship is another example. This attitude sets a tone, and if a guy can't even respect his commitment to a girlfriend, then why would he respect their marriage? We can see this casual approach seeping it's way in to the minds of young people, as its not uncommon for us to hear about kids having sex at 12, 13, and even younger. Girls as young as 10 are being taught to put on a thong and do whatever they have to in order to get attention. This behavior does not give a girl control over guys, but instead it rips apart souls and leaves her with shame, regret, and no self-respect. The television show “Two and a half Men” is one of the most popular in the country. The entire premise revolves around two men who sleep with a different girl every week while setting a horrible example for the young boy living at home. Television is only for entertainment, but what does it say about our society that we think this is funny? “Family Guy” is another example I'd like to refer to; I am a fan of the show, but here in Massachusetts they show re-runs on one of the non-cable local stations at 6:30pm when all the kids are still awake. With the raw and graphic sexual jokes the show dishes out, does it really need to be on that early? I have the same belief about MTV where shows which make some of the most graphic sexual references can be viewed during all hours of the day time. I know that parents are ultimately responsible, but what is a parent to do? Miley Cyrus recently caused an uproar for dancing on a stripper pole at the Teen Choice awards while Hudgens ( star of “High School Musical” ) has just been caught taking naked pictures of herself for the second time which again ended up on the internet. What options do these parents have? These entertainers are the stars of programming for kids who are still in elementary school. Even if a parent monitors everything their kid watches, he or she is still going to school with others kids who's parents might not be as mindful and may be teaching their classmates about these types of things. You can't even go in to a convenience store without seeing a Maxim magazine at the counter. We are treating girls like animals, and the sad thing is that many times girls are simply going along with this in the “Girls Gone Wild” culture. Every day I see girls all around me making very bad and dangerous decisions. All around me I see single mothers bringing men and drugs in to their homes, participating in the most deplorable behavior with no respect or love for themselves, and doing this while little kids are living in the same house. We are in a crisis right now. Men must start treating women with more respect, and at the same time women need to be more careful about the men they associate with. This dangerous way of life has already been passed on to our generation, and we must act immediately to stop it from being passed on to the little children who we are in charge of. I understand that we are living in a world where girls are growing up in the shadow of severe abuse and neglect, but that is no justification to ruin the rest of your life. Get yourself together and use your pain and experiences as a vehicle to set an example and make life better for another young girl who may be going through the same thing. Only sleep with someone who you are absolutely in love with, and keep in mind that people don't know if they are in love only after a few weeks. Get married once and stay with that person; we treat people, marriage, and relationships as if it is going to a fast food restaurant. We have to change this and make marriage important again, it is the only way to correct the mistakes of the last generation. Just because or generation is the product of an excessive divorce rate and broken promises does NOT justify repeating the behavior and leaving our children with a destroyed home. Children need two loving parents, not two people who are smoking weed all day and paying no attention to what their kids are watching on television or doing on the Internet.