As one of Lynn Hanrahan’s former neighbors, I’d like to thank her for writing her letter (link) and also, for paying attention to the good of her children and of the community. I know her kids well, and her fine parenting certainly shows.

In closing her letter, she wants us to tell her if her kids are doing stupid things (I kind of doubt they are) since their lives may depend on timely intervention. Well, the rest of our lives depend on it, too. A disaster to one may mean disaster to others. When someone is obliviously texting their way down a roadway, stealing guns from neighbor’s homes, or thinking about packing a firearm to school to settle a grudge, what can possibly go wrong?

It takes engaged parenting to keep a child on the straight and narrow.

 

It takes the constructive engagement of the community to keep our youth from going off the rails. We need more parents like Ms. Hanrahan.