Recently, figures were published in the Sun Journal revealing local teens’ self-reported substance use and attitudes from an anonymous survey.

Before you go shaking your head about teens, let’s acknowledge that these survey results are as much a reflection of adults as of their children. Who allowed these children – minors, in the eyes of the law – to be in unsupervised, unsavory situations where these incidents occurred? Who gave them the money (or transport to a job) to purchase it? Who didn’t see them walking funny, acting funny, smelling funny?

These surveys are a measure of the degree to which adults have abdicated their role as parents. Parents want to be “friends” and “cool” in their teenagers’ eyes, especially if they are just “weekend parents” or work long hours away from home. The responsibility to set limits, to consistently apply rules and consequences, to say “no” – these are not the fun part of parenting, but crucial to the moral development of our youth, not to mention their physical health and safety.

If we could legislate this parental obligation, we could call it No Child Left to Raise Himself.

Toby Haber-Giasson, Auburn