Something isn't right II

Just yesterday I visited the local playground in my small town. I haven't visited the park for quit some time. And I most certainly have not found myself attempting to go down the slides, squeezing through the tunnels and climbing up the ladders for several years. However, on my "date" with my little girl I was practically forced to climb around on the playground. :) However, what I saw was quite disturbing, in fact it has been bothering me ever since.

I remember as a child playing at the playground. Graffiti on the playground has long been a characteristic of the bad children. I remember as I child seeing the markings on the playgrounds. Most of them read things such as:

I love Johnny! or I love Sue!

However, now things are different, different to say the least.

As I was taking Sarah though the tunnels and up the ladders, all I could think was how I glad I was that Sarah could not read. Today the markings on the playground no longer simply read of childhood romance. Rather, the playground was marked up with cuss words and obscenities. However, the the thing that bothered me most I saw next...

As I proceeded through the tunnels and up the ladders (quite uncomfortably) I noticed the wood marked with dates.

Dates that marked the first time a child/teen smoked a cigarette.

Dates that marked the first time an alcoholic beverage was drunk by a child/teen.

Dates that marked the first a child or teen got high...

It was disturbing to say the least. As I sat scrunched up in the tunnels I was filled with both anger and sadness. Where were the parents when all of this was going on? These children/teens are the future of our country. Where is are country going when our young people are hiding out having their first drinks and smokes... All I can say is something isn't right!