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Parenting Tariq St. Patrick From ‘Power’ Isn’t Rocket Science
What would you do if this criminal were your son? You wouldn’t kill him, so let that answer die. We found a dad with a realistic plan.
Update 6/7/22: Level has a new home. You can read this article and other new articles by visiting LEVELMAN.com.
I hate Tariq St. Patrick with my whole heart.
While still a teenager, the Power character has done everything from sell drugs to steal drugs. He’s been pushing prescription pills and packing heat in his private school. He is the living embodiment of doing too much. His parents can give him access to the whole world and he wants to risk his life instead of making the most of it.
Part of the problem is that Tariq is brilliant. He tests off all academic charts. But Tariq is in a game that requires more than smarts.
Yes, he’s killed someone, which probably makes him think he’s built for The Life. But killing someone in self-defense is not the same as the killers who are raising him. He’s not Ghost and he’s not Tommy. And he has no idea what it takes to get to that level. This kid is a half-step above selling weed and meth hand to hand. He might be able to make things happen in the spaces he’s being raised in, but he’s not ready for more than that.
His actions are so reprehensible that it’s hard to even think about what I would do if he were my son.
He was directly responsible for the death of his sister. He got Kanan killed even though he was the only person who truly loved him. (And Kanan killed his own son!) Tariq even orchestrated his own kidnapping in order to secure a ransom from his own father.
We still have a few more weeks before we know for sure, but I suspect he’s going to be the reason that everybody ends up dead.
I’m a married father of three kids. I have a daughter who is 10 and two boys, ages four and three. My wife and I instill in our kids a sense of right and wrong. We pray before we eat and everybody wears their seatbelts. We lead with love and do our best to watch our tempers. And everybody is allowed to be a work in progress (though lessons must be learned). At our core…
