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I well remember having a 12 ga and a .22 hanging in the gun rack of my pickup parked in the high school parking lot. And I was the norm. All the boys carried pocket knives and we all had guns in our trucks. No one ever got shot, no one ever got stabbed. There was the occasional fist fight, but bringing weapons into an argument was something that never crossed our minds.

We used to get licks from teachers and principles if we were even disrespectful in class. Heck, I've even seen a school bus driver stop the bus and take a kid off the bus and give him a paddling on the side of the road. And then we would get worse at home when the school called our fathers. Then parents sued schools to stop corporal punishment. We used to get our ears boxed at the table for not saying sir or ma'am to our parents. Then parents said that a child should be able to express themselves.

I'm reminded of a song by Merle Haggard titled Okie From Muskogee. I doubt those lyrics would resound with the kids of today, but it was very popular with my high school friends.

The whiners of society have succeeded in taking God out of schools. The entertainment industry has pushed the boundaries of decency into extinction. Kids are blasted with foul language both in entertainment and sometimes at home. Look at the lyrics of the songs nominated for Grammy awards this year. I dare you to read the words and not be repulsed.

Yes, our young children wouldn't recognize the America I grew up in. My grandchildren sometimes ask me questions about some event from 30 or 40 years ago and say, "Pawpaw, did that really happen?"

Paul Harvey's words titled, "If I were the devil" were pretty spot on, and chilling if you go back and read them.