Would you do jail time for your son?

I was on social media the other day and someone posted this question. The question asked... would you do 90 days in jail to keep your 17 year old son from going to prison for 13 years? A lot of mothers posted yes and of course without any hesitation. My answer was different as well as a few other mothers. We said it depends on the crime. Here is my exact response...."it depends but probably not because I'm sitting in jail he still probably gonna be getting into trouble & we both will be in jail lol...because 4 that much time it must be serious & I taught his ass right from wrong and that there are consequences for his actions he needs to be held accountable"

It just blew my mind that these mothers said yes with out asking any questions such as, what was the crime? Is he guilty? They were ready and willing to go to jail and I don't understand why. I can see maybe under certain circumstances, because there are innocent black men in prison, but to do it with no questions asked and no information makes no sense to me. Where is the accountability? What are these mothers really teaching their sons? You can do the crime and I will do the time.

Boys need to learn responsibility and accountability early in life way before they become young adults. Learning these things will hopefully give them the ability to make better decisions where a mother would not be in the position to have to make the decision to go to jail for her son. I believe if your son has committed a crime that can lead to prison time, the only thing a parent should do, if they choose, is to get him a good lawyer; and I feel helping him with that depends on his behavior. If he has been behaving like a juvenile delinquent then going to prison may be his destiny.

I don't think that prison is the answer for our youth. I believe we need more mentoring programs and outreach efforts in our community. But, I believe as a mother we should not always be so quick to rescue our children. There will be situations in life where we won't be able to save them and they will need to able to figure things out on their own. They will never learn to fly solo if you keep them under your wing. As I look at the youth today, I can tell that they are not being held accountable for their actions. They are very disrespectful to anyone in authority, such as parents, teachers, etc. A lot of parents are not raising their children with good old fashioned values that worked for us. They are allowing children to behave like little adults instead of kids. They are allowing them to express themselves and do what they feel versus being a parent and making them do what is right.

Some mothers will decide to do the time for their son and that is truly their choice. But, ask yourself this question. Do you think your son will visit you while your in jail for something he did?

Marcee' Bonds

Author of A Single Mother's Point of View Raising a Black Man

http://www.marceebonds.com

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