In Robert Coles' article "I Listen to My Parents and I Wonder What They Believe," Coles said that our children are getting mixed up from two different sides, parents and society. On the other hand, Bennett in "What Really Ails America," said the first main contribution to what is wrong with America's ethics is the media's influence on the population as a whole. They both are talking about the problems with moral principles and values.
             Both Coles and Bennett talked and interviewed many different people. Coles said parents are teaching their children the values which they want to, but outside interference from society is also battling for a say in our children's lives. Sometimes the outside values from society can be good as Bennett suggests, but when television, friends, and other influences are bad, they have a negative effect. In the end, it is the child's choice of whom to listen to but if parents won't listen then media will probably become their authority figure. Bennett gives the example of Snoop Doggy Dog and said, "What will happen when young boys who grow up on mean streets, without fathers in their lives, are constantly exposed to such music?" (444). Today children love movie stars, singers and sport stars so much that they are being brainwashed into believing in these icons rather than their own parents.
             According to Coles, children need our guidance and understanding of their complicated lives. Right now, he says, they are not taught how to handle things by themselves by their parents. When a child is taught right and wrong, they can make better choices. So I believe that if the parents are talk to their children it will better help our society in the future. Bennett on the other hand, blames not just parents but the society and media. Bennett once wrote "Today much of society ridicules and mocks those who are serious about their faith. America's only respectable form of bigotry
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