I have a question to pose for your opinion.
As you know, I follow the news of my hometown.
Back in October, 3 men shot and killed 3 other people, one was an innocent bystander.
This is BIG news in my hometown.
One person posted this in the "comments" at the end of the article in the online version of the local newspaper....
Ya'll with no compassion (which I'm seeing in the Facebook comments)... On one hand, I get it. The triple loss of life is a tragedy that cannot be described in words (the frequency of tragedies like this should never allow us to become apathetic).But also remember: we as the adults of this society failed these young boys, or whoever was ultimately responsible.We failed as policymakers, as educators, as media creators, as citizens whose duty it is to create a society that does not do violence to its children.No child is born with an intention to kill. All children who grow up to commit violence did so because of a toxic culture, a culture without enough guides, without enough safety and security, without enough positive environmental influences, without meaningful rites of passage to guide our youth into adulthood. We failed them. It is true that we are also the product of the wisdom and foolishness of our elders, and what they transmitted to us wasn't enough to prevent more tragedies like this. But somehow, we must resolve to do better.We must live and care as if every child is our own.
I then felt compelled to reply...
Tim, you fail to mention, in all of your blame shifting to everyone else, the real individuals responsible for the failing of these defendants reaching adulthood: Their parents.
If, as a member of society, as you so state, one was to show discipline to these men as a child when they erred, one would be subject to the penalties of the law and the disdain of others as a "meddler." Once, several years ago, if an adult, such as a neighbor, an educator, etc were to encounter a juvenile acting in a behavior that was unacceptable to society, a swat to the bottom and contacting the parents would have assured a correction to the negative behavior. However, in our society now, that option is no longer feasible. Therefore, more responsibility must be assumed by the parent. Unfortunately, there is a growing lack of parental responsibility for various reasons that I will not go into because we all know of those reasons. So, I agree that violence should never be done to children, but, the bulk of responsibility to correct adverse behavior lies primarily with the parents, not society as a whole.
My question is...Am I off base? Am I missing something?
Thanks in advance for y'all's opinions.
Scott
