Society must stop looking away

To the editor:
Don’t force their hand.
Parenting is so important — molding the children properly, aiding them in their development and cultivating strong moral integrities. These are the responsibilities of a parent. So my issue is with the high majority of bad parents. I’m not just going to slander my own parents. But what of you mothers and fathers of the community? How many children in need amongst your very society have you turned your nose to? How many of you has told your children “not to play with that kid” based only on your opinion of the child’s home?
I remember once when I was 9 years old. I went to a schoolmate’s house straight from school. (I wasn’t fortunate enough to have a caring household to check in with). We shot a couple of baskets in his driveway. I didn’t own a basketball let alone my own goal, or home for that matter. I remember me and my friend having fun safely and smiling youthfully, at least up until the point when his mother called him to the door and made him come tell me we couldn’t be friends and I needed to leave.
I was 9 years old — never been in a fight, never stolen, never even skipped school or smoked a cigarette. I couldn’t fathom why I wasn’t appropriate enough to be the kid’s friend. Was it the “Goodwill” clothing?
His mother glared at me from their screen door like she recognized me from some “most wanted” poster. That’s my earliest memory of feeling guilty for being born with two unconventionally disapproved parents. It wasn’t the last. All my life I was viewed as some “scum child.” I was that Berry boy, or one of Jodi Ward’s kids. I wasn’t welcome anywhere they knew my name. Being outcast, I inherited a hate for the “orthodox family life.” As I grew I found my structure and security in drugs, thievery and even more heinous acts. A “street life” is all I had, it’s all I could be, it’s all I was meant for after all, wasn’t it?
The son of a seven-day convict, and the town drunk. Who was I going to become? Guess what society, I am a product of you. My environment created me and then abandoned me to sufferage. How many of you after seeing a familiar teen’s name in the court section of the newspaper say, “I’m not surprised”? You mean that you knew this adolescent was on a path to heartache and failure. Of course you knew, the signs are easy to see when a child needs help. Some of society did try to help me, but I had already manifested an outlaw mentality, just to protect my feelings. In my early teens, some beautiful people did try to take me in. I was welcome to lots of couches in our community, but when growing up you feel the difference between being “welcome” and “belonging.”
What happen to community? Society, you see these children. Do these kids deserve a chance or do they belong in prison? The schoolmate I wasn’t allowed to befriend at 9 years old unnaturally passed away at 18 years old. His mother keeping him from me didn’t promise his success. I wasn’t the danger, society was and still is. Parents stop looking away and do something for the children of your community.
A seven-day convict,
Roderick Berry
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