[Kamikaze] Not So Sweet Sixteen | Jackson Free Press | Jackson, MS

[Kamikaze] Not So Sweet Sixteen

As a hip-hop artist, I often find myself defending rap music. To many, it's the grinch that stole society's soul, the scourge reducing our youth to mindless purveyors of evil. But champion it, I must. It is my chosen profession and one of the things I know how to do very well.

As the father of a 13-year-old and a 10-year-old, however, I've found that parenting is sometimes perplexing. I'm a work-in-progress, and if you saw me trying to referee an argument between my two children, you'd probably think I was a moron. But I do know one thing. I have seen one of the reasons kids today have a skewed view of things. I've looked it right in its eyes, and I now know the enemy: the MTV series "My Super Sweet Sixteen."

It's almost impossible to miss because they play it at least three or four times a week, and sometimes in marathons. But for those of you who haven't seen the show (or those of you lucky enough to not be paying for cable), let me fill you in. "My Super Sweet Sixteen" is a show that follows a 15-year-old as he or she prepares for a "sweet 16" birthday party. Nothing out of the ordinary, right? The only difference is, these aren't your everyday, run-of-the-mill teenagers. All of these kids come from rich families with parents who are prepared to shell out tens of thousands of dollars for their kid's party. It's not enough that they're already well-off, but MTV excessively pumps this "exercise" into millions of American homes—homes that may not be so fortunate.

What's wrong with finding a deserving teen whose parents can't afford a circus elephant or Jermaine Dupri, and helping them enjoy a birthday? That wouldn't make good TV. Every day, we're bombarded with images that tell our kids that rich people are cool. Rich people are the only ones whose lives are exciting enough to be viewed by cable subscribers. Shows like "Cribs," "The Hills" and "The OC" set a bad example for our kids, not to mention a damn high bar for us parents.

I watched a bit of the "My Super Sweet Sixteen" reunion show recently. Never in my life had I seen such a diverse, eclectic group of spoiled brats! Black, white, Indian, Hispanic—they were all equal-opportunity candidates for a good spanking. If you've seen how these kids talk to their parents, friends and the folk hired to plan their parties, you would see that they have learned early on what society has now taught us: If you have money, you can talk to and treat people any way you want.

I've seen these kids humiliate grown men, throw tantrums on camera and embarrass a classmate in public by "uninviting" them to their parties. I've seen a preacher spend $500,000 (yes, a half-million dollars) on his daughter's party. I'm sure someone in his congregation could have used a helping hand.

What example are we setting, people? How do you think a kid feels who works after school every day to help out his family and himself, when he pulls up in his '89 Honda civic next to a girl he just saw on "My Super Sweet Sixteen" driving a bright red Ferrari. She doesn't work, doesn't make good grades in school and disrespects her parents. If he carjacks her, is rap to blame?

In three years, my daughter will be having her sweet 16 party. It probably won't be on MTV, but as sure as I plan on making it a big event, I'm also going to make sure that she understands the virtues of work and responsibility; how to treat people and how to appreciate success; and how your parents can still love you when they're not pressured to buy you a drop-top Mercedes-Benz—even if they can afford it.

And that's the truth ... sho-nuff.

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