Lack of parental involvement can kill your kids .. or cause them to kill someone

By Chellie Cervone - Posted: Jan 29, 2014 at 6:01 am

Nathaniel Abraham wearing a flamboyant outfit upon his release from jail.

Nathaniel Abraham leaving court after serving nearly half of his childhood behind bars

Lack of parental involvement can be deadly

The lack of parental involvement in their children’s lives is astounding.

Of course, it is not all parents, but, the ranks of ill-equipped, abusive, drug-addled and otherwise deficient parents seems to be on the rise.

And it knows no boundaries.

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Black, White, Latino, rich, poor and anywhere in between, children from all walks of life are often left to their own devices.

And that spells T-R-O-U-B-L-E.

The children from poor families often find their role models on the streets while the rich kids have the resources available to them to get into a different kind of trouble.

Kids need good role models in order to be given every possible chance to grow-up and become productive, solid citizens that can make a difference in the world.

Is it any surprise that Nathaniel Abraham of Michigan, for example, who was often left alone and had easy access to weapons got into trouble? His mother was a drug addict and was not often at home.

At the very young age of 11, he was convicted of the murder of Ronnie Greene.

Even before his arrest, he was well-known to police officers.

Abraham was sent off to prison for the 1997 murder and, because the judge sentenced him under juvenile guidelines, he was released in 2007 when he was 20.

He left prison wearing a black fur coat, ivory fedora hat and ivory and hot-pink pinstriped suit with matching pink tie and shoes. A pimp outfit.

He said he had big plans for his future.

Instead, he only enjoyed a brief period of freedom and was soon back in jail sentenced to a 4-to-20 year term for drug charges plus he faces charges for assaulting two prison guards.

Those that advocate for Abraham say the system failed him.

Spending more than half of his life incarcerated, particularly during the formative years, undoubtedly helped to shape who he was to become but did the system really fail him?

Or, did his parents fail him due to the lack of parental involvement?