Responsibility and Parenthood

You have probably been seeing in the news the recent flash mobs of teen cleptos. While I could focus on the shameful behavior of these foolish kids I will instead turn my attention to the parents of those kids. Where are you? Can you honestly tell me that you are too busy and so oblivious to your children's lives that you can't tell that they are thieves? Seriously. Sure, I can accept that there may be a few single mom's who work double shifts to cover the rent or mortgage, but still, you can't find 15 minutes to talk to your kid?
The individual situations of these kids aside, this flash mob thievery only speaks to the fact that society has created a generation of wussy parents who are too afraid to be parents to their kids. My father always told me that it would certainly make his life easier to let me do what I wanted and that it was a significant pain in his ass to have to keep tabs on me, my friends and my activities. He did it to keep me out of trouble, to keep me safe and to teach me lessons when he saw fit. Rather than ignoring our children or trying to be their best pals, parents need to actually discipline their kids. Yeah, yeah, I know, spanking is so mean....until you consider that in the future they may be sticking needles into their arms full of heroin or torpedoing their futures by robbing a store or by repeatedly sitting back in class surfing the web on their iPads instead of paying attention. The corporal punishment thing really isn't the point by the way, if time outs and grounding or forced community service gets your kids to behave, that is great and more power to you if you can make that work.What I am sick of is parents touting the overused "my kid is misunderstood" and "(S)he is going thru a tough time right now" lines to excuse their awful children. I am a firm believer in the theory that if you look at the faults of the children you will see a failing by the parents, either the parents act that way and have those same failings or they allow those faults to continue on unchecked and unpunished. I see it my own children. When my older sons raise their voices at each other, I realized that I too raise my voice. I repeatedly see myself, or my husband, in our children and sometimes that image is hard to admit as my own and sometimes it makes me see that my children have forced me to improve myself on many levels.
So again, I ask those parents of the flash mob teens. Where are you? What do you allow your children to get away with at home? What values do you foster in your children that they think its okay to commit a crime? Or do you simply not take care in finding out who your kids friends are? I am sure that a few of those kids aren't bad kids, they simply lack the spine to stand up and say "No. I will not do this even if you are my friends" and to the parents of THOSE kids I say that you need to teach your kid that going with the flow gets you no where. it gets you no rewards, no joy and no pride in yourself. Going along with a crime just to keep friends shows a lack of confidence and self-value.
Hopefully these punks and misguided fools will get caught and taught a lesson. Maybe the first one they have ever been forced to actually learn.