BBSparkle you also are correct..
Correct guidance also can be provided by friends/neighbors. As my Kids grew up and were driving, I got several reports on traffic infractions from neighbors/friends. This=a loss in their driving privileges for a time for each infraction. The difference is, I was home/around to do it. Could have been done by their Mother, but I considered that to be my job.
When one of our children got in trouble/poor grades in school, I was there to "Advise" them that was not proper conduct.
Yes, it can be done by a single parent, but it would be a lot harder..Bill..
Thanks for the input, BB. Yes, you are correct-children can be raised properly also in a single parent household-IMO it just makes the job tougher.You are certainly right that a child's understanding and recognizing of people as individuals should be a lesson learned from the parents and from as early an age as possible. Whether it's a direct lesson or not, a child will pick up on how you perceive other people, so parents need to be aware of their own actions. Stereotyping is really pretty useful in a great many situations, but it is one of those things that is easy to take too far.
I dunno if you were just ranting at the liberal policies of years past or what, but to say that a single parent cannot raise a more than productive member of society is to make a rash and completely unfounded generalization. And don't forget to think of the 'village' that helped raise your children. Everyone you consider a part of your life certainly had some influence on them. Maybe people from your church group, lifelong friends, and neighbors who might have helped keep an eye on your kids when playing in the neighborhood. THESE are the communities that are needed to raise the young of our society, and if more people were active in this kind of 'village' we might see less and less government handout programs and children turning to gangs for support.
A small aside for a minute, for a friend of mine not too different from the man in OP.
A friend I met a few years back was working as a server at Steak N Shake. He was a nice, and surprisingly quick, intelligent guy. I found out that he was from California, had been raised by a single mother, and had gotten into some light gang activity/drug dealing. That activity continued once he moved here and eventually led to an arrest [no formal charges, no prison time] that started his wheels turning a different direction. He began working at Steak N Shake and UPS, working 7 nights a week to pay for tuition at IUPUI, for five years until he graduated with a B.A. from the Kelley School of Business. He is now completing his first year at Columbia with the intent of becoming a lawyer [unsure of what type of law, at this time].
The point of mentioning him is, he was raised by a single parent, but he claims the reason for his turn around are the people and friends he met late in his youth, not to mention the folks who left an impression on him at a young age.
It's unfortunate what happened in the OP but it will continue to happen as it's just human nature to fear what you don't know. Simply and instinctual defense mechanism that's there to protect us.
I'm incredibly tired and I'm sure I'll read this later and be embarrassed by how overly long-winded it is. Excuse my lack of brevity.
Correct guidance also can be provided by friends/neighbors. As my Kids grew up and were driving, I got several reports on traffic infractions from neighbors/friends. This=a loss in their driving privileges for a time for each infraction. The difference is, I was home/around to do it. Could have been done by their Mother, but I considered that to be my job.
When one of our children got in trouble/poor grades in school, I was there to "Advise" them that was not proper conduct.
Yes, it can be done by a single parent, but it would be a lot harder..Bill..
I like it. 
