Children
Childhood
Violence and the Plea for Answers
In response to the Jonesboro tragedy, many people have been asking me for an explanation. It is especially frightening that this particular atrocity appears to have been planned and was not the impulsive act of an angry child. Unfortunately, the single act of an individual cannot be explained. I'm sure there will be many articles purporting to do so, but they are merely attempting to reduce our fears by creating rationality where none exists. We can talk about societal and familial contexts for such acts, but the reality is, fortunately, that the vast majority of children and teens, even those raised in very troubled families, still resolve their anger without shooting someone. Nevertheless, there is data to be examined, issues to be discussed, and, perhaps, some steps to be taken to try to ensure that this type of tragedy doesn't grow into a more common event.
Violence is glorified in our country. TV, movies, cable, and video games expose children, in both passive and active ways, to a constant message that it is cool to solve problems by killing people. Research data suggest this does have a negative effect on children. But the number of gun-related deaths committed by children under 14 has been virtually unchanged, and very rare, over the past 25 years, the time during which they have been exposed to a veritable explosion of violent material. This exposure apparently leads to more violent language, threats, and confrontations, but not murders in young children.
With adolescents, the story is very different. Shooting deaths have doubled over the past twenty years. Probably a culture of violence contributes to this. But so does poverty combined with greater media exposure to what you can't have, the loss of fathers to many of the male teens who commit most of these acts, and the marked increase in unsupervised time in the after-school hours. Other societal changes include the loss of a meaningful role for adolescents, especially those for whom school is not an arena of success. Before the 1950's, many of these young men would drop out of school and go to work, often having access to union-based apprenticeships that would give them hands-on learning that lead to an ability to make an adequate income. The 1960's contributed the disdain for authority. Only recently have inner-city police returned to walking neighborhood beats and becoming a more positive part of the local community. This appears to be one factor in reducing adolescent (and adult) violent crime in some of our cities.
The access to guns is another critical issue. There are millions of them. Even in families where there are attempts to teach children a healthy respect for guns, there is a lack of understanding of the nature of children. Children are immature, impulsive, and occasionally do things, sometimes harmful things, without really being able to fully absorb, or even consider, the long-term consequences of their actions. Thus, one of the most important responses to the Jonesboro tragedy would be to stop fooling ourselves into thinking children can be responsible about guns. This should lead to lockable safeties on all weapons, guns being locked up, and ammunition being locked up in a separate place. Sure, it would help if there were fewer guns. I don't know if or when this society will ever seriously commit to doing that. But these other steps can certainly be taken, even by those who strongly oppose gun control.
As I said earlier, there is no simple answer. All children, indeed all people, are capable of committing acts of violence. We are not the rational, controlled beings that we conjure up. In fact, given the dark side that makes up a part of all of us, it is amazing there is not even more violence. Atrocities have been committed since time immemorial. It is in our nature. Today, we know more about these atrocities than in past generations because the media has made the world much smaller and brings it into our living room in vivid color and for prolonged analysis and coverage. This may contribute to copy-cat crimes. But it also can create a distorted image that there is mayhem everywhere.
We will never truly understand why these two boys, if guilty, committed these crimes. Just like we cannot explain most of the specific violent acts that take place every few seconds across our nation. We must continue to strive to find ways to reduce broad-based societal contributions to the problem. We must continue to try to educate people to alternative ways of managing their anger. But unless we decide to become a society that alters human nature through chemical means, there will always be a Jonesboro that periodically jolts our sensibilities. Still, it would be nice if occasionally the newspaper headline reminded us that a couple of million Greater Bostonians returned home today without being the perpetrator or victim of a violent act. You know, it still is the norm.
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