There has been an increase in reports of break-ins and con artists plaguing the residents of Rockdale recently. 

Thieves and con men have been around since the beginning of time. It just seems that the principles of morality and respect that many of us were taught to follow are now almost nonexistent.

Reading about mass killings has become almost commonplace. Distrust of many of our elected officials, including the president of the United States is commonplace. The fact that you cannot allow your children to be more than 5 feet from you, even in public, is frightening. Many teenagers show no respect for older persons, which was evident in the recent cold-blooded killing of a decorated WWII veteran.

Recently, the newly elected Pope Francis said that the Catholic Church, which has been a symbol and a rock in regards to many moral issues, including abortion, needs to change and be more accepting of people whose moral values are different than the norm. To some, that statement came as a shock. The moral rock of any society is its family structure and its church.

Until parents decide to  rear their children in a structured family atmosphere that encourages respect for other families and themselves, and the church stops compromising to increase its membership, we are going to continue to lock  our cars and our homes, and buy guns to protect ourselves from the ills of what our society has become.