A couple weeks ago, I called into my favorite radio station about a conversation about parents' disconnect from the younger generation of youth. I called in introducing myself as a teacher and talked with the radio show host about what I observed in parenting as a teacher, and how parents can do better.

I told the host the truth. What I see, tragically, in my day-to-day work is a lack of parenting. I told him that no matter the cultural or generational disconnect, the biggest thing I took away as the most important thing is this:

Be present. Be involved in your kid's life. All the other things come secondary and will come along.

I had a mother who was extremely present in my life and, no matter how much she doesn't understand, she always tried. My father worked to support the family and at times, I barely saw him. To tell the truth, growing up, I didn't really spend that much time with my dad at all.

I remember the one father-son moment I had with my dad. We were watching the Knicks play the Mavericks during the peak of Jeremy Lin's "Linsanity" magic crusade with the Knicks in 2012. We cheered and got out of our $25 seats as we watched Jeremy Lin rain contested three-pointers over the legendary Dirk Nowitzki. We watched Lin seal the game with a three-pointer over Shawn Marion and an assist to J.R. Smith.

For the first time, my father and I shared a monumental experience together. But that was one of the only ones. My dad often stayed in his room to decompress for work or was always working, and I don't blame him. He helped support our family despite a plethora of unfortunate circumstances where we always wouldn't have made it., and I'm really grateful for that.

And as a teacher in inner-city Baltimore, I realize that even with the lack of time I spent with my father, I never had it as bad with my students. A lot of my kids never had a parent or even both of their parents in their lives. A lot of my kids had their fathers die early. A lot of my kids have had their parents go through hectic divorces that lead them to be raised by one of their parents, or have custody exchanged between both of their parents.

It breaks my heart to hear some of their stories. I can't blame my kids for some of their misbehaviors when they have circumstances like these in their lives. And I can't fix all their problems. I'm not a social worker. I'm not a counselor. I'm not a soup kitchen. I can do the best I can to talk with them, feed them, and above all, be there for them. But I can't be their parent.

After this year, these kids won't be my kids. They will be passed on to other teachers and go to different schools. I will do my best for them, but I won't be with them forever.

What I have learned, however, is what teaching means for what happens when I myself am a parent. I can't control my health when I finally have kids, but I can control by engagement and presence. No matter how I feel, I will endeavor to be there for my kids at games, at school events, at their friends' social gatherings.

Above all, I endeavor to be present. Always. A lot of people went through similar childhoods as myself, and the often most lamented part of their parents' style of parenting is that their parents prioritized work over their kids. Work was always more important, and you can't always blame those parents because it was essential to put food on the plate and a roof above their heads, but I can speak for a lot of kids that what a kid wants most is for their parents to be there for them.

Obviously, once I have my own kids, the battle is easier said than done. But we parent our kids resisting all the ways we feel like we weren't parented correctly -- that much I know. I lamented that my father was always working, so I endeavor to put work second and my kids first.

That doesn't mean that I'll be perfect. Parents always have to adapt and adjust to the times and the interests of their kids. Parents will always not always understand and feel some sort of disconnect, and regret the ways they could be better. That's not always in their control.

But what parents can do that is arguably the most important thing? Be present. Be there. No matter what happens with finances, no matter what happens with work, being present is the most important thing as a parent.