“Whoever spares the rod hates their children, but the one who loves their children is careful to discipline them.” —Proverbs 13:24

Monica Crowley knows the family unit is a microcosm of American society. Her Washington Times column “Surprising heroines who wield authority” commemorates Baltimore’s Toya Graham’s “moma bear” behavior reining in her wrongdoing son. Imagine if she had been that parent at the Cincinnati zoo. Mindful Mother Graham would have kept her kid safe. No dangerous plummet into the deadly clutches of a gorilla for him.

Let’s compare the MSM’s biased portrayal of these two mothers. “Zoo” mom’s obvious neglect is lamely excused as an innocent, “human” mistake. Yet, Ms. Graham’s public swats were demonized as wrongful shaming and child abuse. Rationally, who is the “better” mother here?

All children need a loving family, necessities like a home, and a full belly. Beyond that, every child needs to learn the boundaries of appropriate and safe behavior. In eras long past, the most terrifying statement made to any errant youth was “wait ‘til your father gets home!” That was before LBJ’s Great Society. His “welfare” programs continue to reward single motherhood and the resulting generations’ out of wedlock births. Now, absentee fathers are often the rule rather than the exception. Therefore, “lost boys” run rampant in rioting cities like Baltimore. Such a chaotic environment is what drew Ms. Graham’s boy into the fray.

For an average teen, urban centers like Chicago (with its yearly record-breaking homicides) seem about as safe as that gorilla’s lair. Is it any wonder that America in 2016 resembles a real-life “Lord of the Flies?”

David L. Hunter is on Twitter and blogs at davidlhunter.blogspot.com. He is published in The Washington Post, The Washington Times, Patriot Post, FrontPage Mag, and extensively in Canada Free Press and American Thinker.