What CNMI children want most from leaders!

There is always a lot of talk in politics about our children and every politician swears they support education but the reality is that our children have literally been political footballs on too many issues and the quality of their education continues to decline. Our children, especially at MHS, are crying out for help and I haven’t heard or seen a single politician coming to their rescue. Our children tell us what they want all the time but the problem is too much of what they are telling us goes in one ear and out the other and this phenomenon is not limited to our leaders. Many parents also ignore some of their child’s request, thinking they know better.

Having taught for over 24 years, I have a pretty good idea what our children want from us but the question is how many of us are really listening to our youth and what they want for the CNMI and their future, especially our leaders. FYI leaders and parents, what our children want most is to live the American dream of having the opportunity and finding real careers with prosperity in the CNMI and not having to get on a plane to find a career and prosperity in Idaho, Oregon, Washington and other states. Our children want the CNMI to be more modern and less archaic.

Our children want see opportunities, activities, and events in the CNMI that are in the mainland. Our children are also smarter than their parents as they want us old folks to stop smoking cigarettes. Our children want us to eat healthy. Our children don’t want us to use drugs or to drink alcohol. Our children don’t want their parents, aunts and uncles to argue and fight, especially when they are drunk. Our children want the CNMI to have industry(s) that offers skilled careers and high paying jobs, not minimum wage jobs. Our children want to stay in the CNMI to find prosperity but our leaders continue to fail to deliver and are even fighting more for alien workers than our youth. Our children want to be proud of the CNMI beyond culture but there is nothing to be proud about as we are dead last in catching up with modern times on too many issues and in too many areas. Our children want a four-year university so they don’t have to leave but we haven’t even started discussing where NMC should be headed because we are too busy just trying to keep the school afloat with funding being the primary challenge. Our children want a lot of things from us and the CNMI but as usual money plays a big role. So if you don’t know of a sure way for the CNMI to get the funding we need to make the CNMI what our children want for their future, then you need to support the moratorium. You can see first-hand the millions, the careers and the prosperity of the marijuana industry under full legalization and what it can do to solve the many needs of our children and the future of the CNMI. We owe it to our youth to at least try and start a new industry with full legalization under the moratorium.

FYI, readers, if you were to ask our youth which would they prefer to see their parents use—alcohol or marijuana—an overwhelming majority will tell you marijuana with comments like “at least marijuana doesn’t make people crazy and act stupid and wanting to fight.” Our children already know marijuana is better and safer than alcohol for recreational use because we (educators, good parents, peers, social scientists, doctors and the media) have already educated much of society about alcohol being worse than marijuana, which is why it defies logic and common sense to be against legalization in this day and times. The average child, once they get to the fifth and six grades, knows about marijuana. Our youth also know that marijuana along with alcohol and tobacco are not for them until they are adults and the overwhelming majority will accept this expectation and won’t smoke pot. Finally, our society needs to take note that our children are the ones out front leading to stop drug, alcohol and tobacco use among our youth and adults. Our youth are even doing commercials like: “Don’t let underage drinking ruin your future” but there can’t and won’t be any specific marijuana commercials of “Don’t let underage smoking ruin your education and your future” until it is legalized. Marijuana needs to be out in the open as being high in class is not worth wasting your education and your future career and life over, which is the message we should be sending to our youth—not marijuana is illegal and that’s it because our youth are smart and know better!

Social scientist are already predicting that our future generations will see far more smokers of marijuana and fewer alcoholics as our youth are already well aware of the fact that alcohol is far more dangerous and detrimental to society and socializing than marijuana. In fact, there is an entirely new phenomenon in America with millions of marijuana smokers who do not drink alcohol. Get educated and be informed as marijuana will eventually become the leading future vice of adult recreational stimulants. The marijuana industry is predicted to equal and even surpass the alcohol industry that is presently valued at over $200 billion a year. The marijuana industry is the economic miracle the CNMI has been waiting on and wanting since the death of the garment industry. Seize the moment CNMI and give us all a chance to live the American dream!

Ambrose M Bennett
Kagman, Saipan