I read with interest the Aug. 27 op-ed commentary, “Who’s responsible for kids at risk?” We blame poverty, yet some kids come out of poverty in amazingly good shape. We blame television, yet some kids seem not to be affected by the horror. We blame weapons, yet some kids have access to them and are never violent. We blame drugs, yet probably most kids are exposed to them and only some get hooked.

What makes the difference? Working to aid kids with programs after they are already warped is nice and some are no doubt improved, but these kids are never in as good shape as they would have been if something hadn’t already messed them up.

We know that from the first day of life to age 3, what happens to a baby affects his entire personality. Parents are the ones who create what society has to deal with. Are parents to blame? Would you blame a doctor or lawyer for being incompetent if they had no education for the job? It has long been shown that instinct just won’t do either. Why do we avoid getting to the root of the matter?

Many people, who haven’t done a fine job of raising their children, do not like to face the fact that their parenting skills were flawed. We do everything to avoid responsibility for the cause of damaged kids and the children continue to suffer. It is less scary to create “fix-up” programs than to face the truth that we made mistakes. Parents should not feel guilty for something they did not know how to do.

We need to have at least two years of mandatory parenting classes in our high schools. You don’t get out until you have taken these classes. Many people profess to be authorities on parenting, but the people teaching these classes should be people who have raised happy, competent children so the students can be exposed to the values, skills, attitudes and practices of successful parents.

If citizens let the political candidates know what they want, demand that they get what they want once they are elected, with enough people taking responsibility then we could have parenting classes in our schools. Our forefathers provided us with power. Think what a great country we would have if we used it more often. Yes, we are all responsible for these children at risk. Doris Watkins Orland