Parents have a responsibility to children

I wonder if JonBenet Ramsey's mom owns one of those date books.

When 6-year-old JonBenet was murdered just over a month ago in her Colorado home, the entire country became frenzied. As the press unraveled the story of a youngster who masqueraded around as an adult, people asked, "How could a parent do this to a child? "

JonBenet's situation is not as uncommon as you might think. In fact, her story is old news. It's all happened before. It's just a different name and a different face. If you've been following the news closely over the past year, headlines such as "Jessica 's final flight" and even "The mind of the Unabomber" would be familiar to you. One story was about a 7-year-old girl who died as she attempted to break a world record; while the other story was about a child prodigy who allegedly became a madman. Jessica Dubroff was just a kid who, at the urging of her father, tried to become the youngest person to fly across the country. In the second article, Theodore Kaczynski was portrayed as a shy, quiet boy-genius who, at the insistence of his parents, began his ca reer at Harvard at the premature age of 16. Both of their stories, like JonBenet's, ended in tragedy. So answer this question: Were you really shocked to hear about JonBenet? You shouldn't have been; for her story has happened before and will surely happe n again.

Think about it. For years, kids have whined and grumbled that their parents have pressured them to succeed far beyond their limits. And for years parents have contended that Little Johnny or Little Suzy exhibits no effort to achieve unless he or she is pu shed. The truth is that certain kids do indeed need to be pushed; but most only need a slight nudge to get them started. Sadly, some parents are unwilling to settle for the middle, and that's when conflicts and catastrophes arise. The tragedies of JonBene t, Jessica, and Theodore were no surprise - just a direct result of their parents' actions.

However, not all parents agree. Some mothers who take pride in coaching their daughters at beauty pageants argue that there is no difference between little girls competing in pageants and little boys competing in Little League (which is also filled with aggressive parents and supercompetative kids). They believe that this argument justifies their behavior as well as their child's behavior. It's frightening to think that these are the types of morals that many children are being brought up with.

Along with parenting comes responsibility. Parents are responsible for keeping their children safe and secure. Parents hold their child's hand when crossing the street. A parent does not allow a 7-year-old to fly a plane when 16 is the minimum age require d for a license. A parent does not smear lipstick and eyeliner on a 6-year-old's face and try to pass her off as a 20 year old.

You may be thinking, "These stories are sad, but that's just life." However, if everyone thinks this way, then nothing will change. As long as we have kids out there like JonBenet, we'll have a need for another premature star to play her part on a made-fo r-TV movie. Then the cycle will never end.

In her date book, Anne Geddes also remarked that "children are the true believers, and some of us are lucky to make the transition to adulthood without ever losing the ability to see through young eyes." That says a lot about the people who were never giv en the opportunity to be kids.

Jill Dellamalva is a sophomore majoring in journalism and creative writing. Her column, 'Focused Light,' appears every other Wednesday.