Atticus in To Kill a Mockingbird is parent that is different from any other in the book.  He is not the parent that repeatedly tells their children what to do, where to be, or control just about every other aspect of their life. Parents in today's society should treat there kids with love and respect.  Ruling with an iron fist will just lead to the rebellious phase of the child.  I am not saying that parents should not have rules in their house because without them it would just be chaos.  Raise your children in a way so they can make their own decisions about what is right and what is wrong.  I have seen a family were one of the children was just bossed around way to much and to many rules were put into place that they just stopped following them.  If you set the bar too high to achieve perfection than what makes you think that any child is going to want to try that hard to get there. 
Parents should have a good relationship with there children.  Without it life will go to a very dark and dangerous place.  A mutual level of respect is what the child and the parent should want and have.  I they can achieve this than the children will listen to the parent and the parent to the children.  Communication is key.  Slight misunderstandings can lead to a problem much greater in magnitude than the original one.
Nitpicking and someones every flaw is a mistake that some parents make.  If children are raised this way than they will have a mindset that everything they do will have to be perfect in order to succeed.  Stress is the last thing that anyone wants in there life.  Sometimes to much stress will lead to depression.  That person will not get any joy out of life, which they will go through with their head down thinking that nothing they do will ever be right or impress anyone.  They will have low self esteem and confidence.
Parents need to teach their children to have confidence in themselves.  Don't worry about what other people think about you.  True friends will come if you just be yourself.  If you try an change yourself to fit in with the crowd than you're wasting a fine young individual.     
 

Race Relations in America today

Race is always a big issue in today's society.  The relations between races are phenomenally better than what they were in the story To Kill a Mockingbird or in the PBS documentary The Freedom Riders.  There isn't violence on that scale anymore.  People just grew up with that kind of hatred.  As life went on it just died out in a 'survival of the fittest'  kind of way.  Many law enforcement didn't help with the inhumane violence that was going on; mostly because many of them were racist to.  We need to accept everyone for how they are.  
Everyone has their own experiences with racism.  Everyday it is possible to see or hear that don't want to come across to anyone as racist.  Being racist is a label that someone gives you; it's like nerd, jock, or class clown.  Some times it can be hard to get rid of it once it has started.  No one wants to offend anybody.  That is the last thing that anyone wants to do.  It doesn't matter where someone hails from as long as they are a good person.  I personally have many friends who are different races than me.  Its great because I can see different cultures without leaving home.  All in all racism is just a way of thinking and once you get past that your life will be so much better.