【正文】 y something he forgot five minutes later. but because of that moment i have this special place in my heart for him. because thatamp。t surprised to hear that i did not have an idyllic childhood. the strain and tension that exists in my relationship with my own father is well documented. my father is a tough man and he pushed my brothers and me hard, from the earliest age, to be the best performers we could be.
　　he had great difficulty showing affection. he never really told me he loved me. and he never really plimented me either. if i did a great show, he would tell me it was a good show. and if i did an ok show, he told me it was a lousy show.
　　he seemed intent, above all else, on making us a mercial success. and at that he was more than adept. my father was a managerial genius and my brothers and i owe our professional success, in no small measure, to the forceful way that he pushed us. he trained me as a showman and under his guidance i couldnamp。 to forgive our parents, if we felt neglected. forgive them and teach them how to love again.
　　you probably werenamp。 beginning with all of us here tonight amp。s children amp。m calling upon all the worldamp。s why iamp。t want any of us to make this mistake. thatamp。t care less about their parents. left to their own devices, they cherish their independence. they have moved on and have left their parents behind.
　　then there are the far worse cases of children who harbor animosity and resentment toward their parents, so that any overture that their parents might undertake would be thrown forcefully back in their face.
　　tonight, i donamp。t know with what. but whatever it was, it was enough to suck the spirit right out of that dog.
　　a lot of kids today are hurt puppies who have weaned themselves off the need for love. they couldnamp。t she much of a guard dog, she was such a scared and nervous thing that it is a wonder she did not pass out every time a truck rumbled by, or a thunderstorm swept through indiana. my sister janet and i gave that dog so much love, but we never really won back the sense of trust that had been stolen from her by her previous owner. we knew he used to beat her. we didnamp。 a mix of wolf and retriever. not only wasnamp。black girl,amp。 to recreate the parent/child bond, renew its promise and light the way forward for all the beautiful children who are destined one day to walk this earth.
　　but since this is my first public lecture, and you have so warmly weled me into your hearts, i feel that i want to tell you more. we each have our own story, and in that sense statistics can bee personal.
　　they say that parenting is like dancing. you take one step, your child takes another. i have discovered that getting parents to rededicate themselves to their children is only half the story. the other half is preparing the children to reaccept their parents.
　　when i was very young i remember that we had this crazy mutt of a dog named amp。t get much from endless tv, puter games and videos.
　　these hard, cold numbers which for me, wrench the soul and shake the spirit, should indicate to you why i have devoted so much of my time and resources into making our new heal the kids initiative a colossal success.
　　our goal is simple amp。re not really home, because their heads are still at the office. and their kids? well, their kids just make do with whatever emotional crumbs they get. and you donamp。t think that there is not the same pain and anguish among their counterparts in the united kingdom. studies in this country show that every single hour, three teenagers in the uk inflict harm upon themselves, often by cutting or burning their bodies or taking an overdose. this is how they have chosen to cope with the pain of neglect and emotional agony.
　　in britain, as many as 20% of families will only sit down and have dinner together once a year. once a year! and what about the timehonored tradition of reading your kid a bedtime story? research from the 1980s showed that children who are read to, had far greater literacy and significantly outperformed their peers at school. and yet, less than 33% of british children ages two to eight have a regular bedtime story read to them. you may not think much of that until you take into account that 75% of their parents did have that bedtime story when they were that age.
　　clearly, we do not have to ask ou