RESTORING THE FAMILY

"Too bad you can't spank the parents." That is what a woman said over coffee Tuesday morning at the County Seat Cafe in Benton. She was among about 100 folks who took a coffee-and-doughnut break as guests of the Southeast Missourian on a rainy day. Although conversations throughout the morning ranged from the usual liars' table chatter to local politics, the biggest topic of all was how parents are failing their children.

This topic came up in a variety of ways. A deputy sheriff, Jim Chambers, observed that during his years with the sheriff's department the county jail population not only has grown in numbers, it has grown younger. People in their late teens and early 20s who vandalize cars, steal and get involved in drugs are well represented in the jail these days. "Where are the parents?" someone asked, not really expecting an answer.

Another hot topic in Scott County is taxes. Tax bills have gone out, many of them with hefty increases in school levies, thanks to Senate Bill 380, the now-infamous school finance reform law that boosted taxes statewide without a vote of the people. "I wouldn't mind paying my school taxes, if the teachers used some discipline and taught the kids something," said a fellow in all sincerity. "Don't blame the schools," a former school board member responded, "blame the parents. They don't want their children to be disciplined any more."

The county-seat town of Benton and Scott County are microcosms of what has happened to family life and parental control all over: urban centers, metropolitan suburbs, medium-sized cities, small towns and rural villages. Everywhere the complaint is familiar: Families aren't what they used to be, and society is suffering the consequences.

It may be a good-sized leap from Benton to Washington, but there is a connection. The new Republican majority in Congress has pledged to do something about the breakdown in family values. On Election Day, a nationwide poll asked Americans what they think is the cause of problems facing the country. In response, 36 percent said it was the economy -- unemployment, taxes and interest rates. But a whopping 56 percent pointed to moral and social problems, particularly the breakdown of families.

The GOP's Contract With America addresses the issue by proposing bills to strengthen families. Included in the contract are plans for law enforcement to "keep people secure...in their schools," changes to discourage "illegitimacy and teen pregnancy" through welfare reform, legislation to enforce child support and provisions for tax incentives for adoption and through tax credits.

In mostly Democratic Scott County, folks will be watching the new Republican Congress closely. It may be too much, some of them said, to expect that Congress can turn things around. But everyone agreed the effort has to start somewhere.

While Congress faces a daunting task, the effort to shore up the family foundation is a hometown job too. Simple things can help, like encouraging people to go to church, making sure children get involved in organizations like the Scouts, getting involved in the PTA, joining a 4-H club, helping teen-agers realize abstinence is better than unwanted pregnancies or the risk of AIDS -- all of these foster the ideals on which the country has prospered.