This morning I watched the music video “Runaway Love” by rapper Ludacris, featuring singer Mary J. Blige. I’m from the generation that grew up watching “Ozzie and Harriett” (I can hear the majority of you asking “who?”) and listening to love songs by Frankie Avalon, Fabian, and Elvis.

Back then, nobody “did it” before their wedding night, at least that’s what they claimed.

There were always a few “loose” girls who did “go all the way,” some with more than one guy. Occasionally one would leave school to spend time with an “aunt” somewhere.

That usually meant she was pregnant and the child’s father wouldn’t marry her, or, she couldn’t or wouldn’t identify him. Sometimes the boy’s parents would quietly make arrangements to save him from early, unplanned matrimony with the “wrong” girl.

Months later she would return to school, minus the extra belly weight, and somewhere a child was on its way to an adoptive family. Less frequently, a quiet reversal of roles occurred when the girl’s mother took on the role of new mother and her daughter assumed the role of older sister.

“Runaway Love” wouldn’t have been a reality check back then but it is today. Divorce, single-parent families, single mothers, poverty, all play a part. It’s a long way from “Ozzie and Harriett” to “MTV.” That world was severely flawed; we kept sex in the closet; we didn’t talk about it.

Unfortunately, it seems that many people have not yet learned how to make this one a better place for their children. Because those children can only pass on what they know, the future isn’t looking so good for the next generation, either.

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