Baltimore needs more moms likes Toya Graham.
She’s the brave woman caught on video smacking her son in front of his protesting friends and chasing him home away from the riots.
While I absolutely don’t condone violence, I do think she taught her son a lesson after she saw the 16-year-old on TV throwing rocks at police. She VERY publicly tracked him down and bluntly sent him home.
Graham told “CBS Evening News” last night she disciplined her son Michael and yanked him from the crowd because, “That’s my only son and at the end of the day I don’t want him to be a Freddie Gray.”
Gray died in police custody from a severe spinal cord injury, which caused these massive protests to erupt.
Baltimore Police Commissioner Anthony Batts said a lot of the protesters are teenagers. He praised the mother during a press conference, saying: “I wish I had more parents that took charge of their kids out there tonight.”
Graham should be a reminder to all parents that we need to discipline our children so they don’t become destructive teenagers. And when they do behave poorly it’s the job of the parents to put them in line.
We need more moms and dads getting their children off the streets in order to bring this chaos to an end. Former Boston Mayor Ray Flynn echoed that sentiment on Boston Herald Radio yesterday when he said “government can’t do what parents do. That’s why we need this dialogue so we are reminded of what our responsibility is as citizens.”
As a mother of one son and another boy on the way, I put so much pressure on myself to teach him the difference between right and wrong and instill good manners. Being a good parent is the most important job and role that I have on this Earth.
On “Morning Meeting”, Former first lady of Massachusetts Ann Romney didn’t comment specifically on the Baltimore story, but she did address the struggles of raising five boys. Her secret to her own parenting success, she said, is “there has to be love but there has to be limits.”
Parents need to take some responsibility. Stop blaming everyone else for personal or family failures. It’s time for parents to set a better example for their children.
Toya Graham sure did.
Jaclyn Cashman co-host “Morning Meeting” on Boston Herald Radio from 9 a.m. to noon. Follow her on Twitter @JaclynCashman.
Baltimore needs more moms likes Toya Graham.
