Continued Teenage Violence

A 17-year-old shooter murdered 10 at his Santa Fe High School near Houston, Texas. This weaponized student, regardless of a security adult, created havoc. All it takes for death and destruction is one Rambo like figure with a killing weapon. We have glorified this protagonist type over and over again in fiction, TV scripts, video games, and on the big screen. Good and evil is played out, but the lines get blurred between what is appropriate and honorable versus what is bad and deplorable. Do the ends justify the means, as the hero performs numerous killings? Prior to the Industrial Revolution, we had “family. “ This meant that within a nuclear family, each member contributed to the welfare of the whole group. Sons worked alongside father daily without complaint and daughters assisted their mother as well. Education was provided in many different forms and ways. If a family member was sick, they were cared for by the family. If there was death to the father or mother, the eldest stepped in and took over the reins. Nurturance, support and child rearing was the job and task of the family members. Neighbors were good neighbors and if one neighbor experienced some form of hardship, other neighbors came to their aid. There was not an exchange of money for assisting with the building of a structure or with the planting and harvesting of crops. Altruism existed and one could expect, that in hardship, the neighborhood community would be there with hands-on help. On the other hand, if there was a killing, then that community would take care of the problem. There was no external police force or court system that would apply law and order. Nowadays, we have institutions that provide for education, social services, employment, police and military, incarceration, Social Security, health insurance, and other functions that were once handled by family. We now have foster care and babysitters to rear the children. We have psychologists, psychiatrists with psychotropic meds, and social workers to provide for remediating the emotional needs for those with interpersonal, social and individual difficulties. We have teachers, counselors, principles, providing assistance for mass, universal education. We have doctors, nurses, hospitals providing for the physically ill. To Be Continued