Kenny Hardin, Salisbury City Councilman (Reprinted with Permission)
♦ Yesterday afternoon I received frantic and emotional call from a mother who said that her son smoked some weed laced with an unknown substance, probably some new designer drug. She said he was behaving oddly and out of control. I was about 15 minutes from starting City Council meeting, but I talked her through the next steps of getting him to the ER. I reached out to a trusted friend and asked if he would go by the home and assess and assist. Thank you Brother.
After the Council meeting ended last night, I went to the ER and sat with the visibly upset mother. I will share as a cautionary warning part of what I shared with her: “If your son continues down this path he has only two options-doing a whole lot of Fed time or he will be dead soon. If he keeps getting into this life, it’s going to end badly for other family members too. The rules of the drug game have changed. These young boys don’t care nothing about killing family too. You need to take control of your house. ”
I’ve known this mom for years and she is a strong, kind, and God fearing woman. Anytime she sees me, she greets me with a hug and kind words. His father needs to step up and support this woman. All these so called men out here making these babies need to see the results of being absent in their son’s lives. If you’re not going to be there to provide guidance throughout their lives and steer them clear of poor choices, stop pretending you’re a man and get the F out of the way of real men.
I had a good telephone conversation this morning with a woman whose ex walked out on his children and did nothing to ensure their physical or emotional well being into adulthood. She stepped up like a soldier and ensured they never missed a thing. We talked about how poverty impacts the family dynamic. She gave a great example of the son filling the father role in so many homes now. She shared how a young man out selling drugs to support the family will be less likely to be frowned upon by his mother when he’s providing food, rent, and other necessities. This may be difficult for judgmental minds to understand, but it’s a reality.
Bottom line, men you need to step up and take care of your responsibility to teach these young boys what it means to succeed.
