The drive-by shooting death of 15-year-old Avondre Donel in Detroit makes it clear why it takes a village to successfully raise children.
Donel, an honors student, was, by all accounts, a good kid. His mother, Lisa Donel, kept him under close watch. He was in the church choir and was not allowed to travel more than five houses away from his home.
But on Mother's Day, Avondre was exactly five houses away at a friend's house. He was waiting on the porch as his friend got dressed, so they could shoot a few hoops before a planned holiday dinner. Out of nowhere, a single shot struck Avondre in the chest.
"She did everything she could to protect him. She didn't let him run the streets, and she made sure he didn't hang out with the wrong kind of kids," Avondre's godmother, Jackie Sullen, told the Detroit News. "This just shows you can make all the right decisions, and then it comes down to someone else making a bad decision that ruins your whole life."
No matter how closely we guard our kids, how strongly we discipline them and instill in them the right values, they have to step out into the world, even if that world is only five houses away.
It's there that they come in contact with other kids whose parents did not push them to be honor students or sing in the church choir. There are kids who have never had an adult place boundaries on their lives. They can roam the streets at all times of the day and night, not go to school and carry and shoot guns.
Those are the kids that are killing kids like Avondre. Those are the kids that turn into irresponsible adults who commit crimes, don't work and don't take care of their children. Those are our kids. They are our cousins, our nieces, our nephews, our godchildren and our neighbors.
Unless we fight to make sure all of our children are getting the help, love and attention that they deserve, kids like Avondre are always going to be at risk.
Posted By: Siebra Muhammad
Thursday, May 13th 2010 at 9:46AM
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