Sue Hartigan <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: While looking for something for Bill I found this article. It makes a lot of sense. IMO it is about time we "Make parents responsible for children younger than, say, 14. If kids don�t go to school or if they commit a crime, parents will be accountable. Prison time doesn�t make sense, but we could boost parental responsibility by requiring community service of parents who allow children to be truant, to steal or to use guns that should be locked up. Promoting parental accountability conflicts with the social norm of parental autonomy." as this person says. Sue It makes little difference whether the two boys in Jonesboro, Ark., who allegedly killed five people and wounded 10, are tried as children or as adults. What matters is that parents, teachers and lawmakers wake up and stop youth violence and misbehavior. The Jonesboro killings are hauntingly similar to drive-by shootings and other acts of appalling school violence that have become disturbingly routine over the past decade. No one can predict them, but we ought not be surprised that they happen. Though it�s true the Jonesboro boys were introduced to guns at an extremely early age, it isn�t clear that they are otherwise that much different than boys around the country. The planned nature of these shootings is terrifying. We cannot claim the Jonesboro tragedy is a random event for which no one is responsible. We all are responsible for generally accepted aspects of American society that have run amuck. We foster an explosive cultural combination of violence, confusing social signals, parental irresponsibility and tolerance of misbehavior. America is coarse and threatening. Whether we live in the inner city or in the countryside, it truly is a jungle out there. We watch silently and reward with hard-earned money the proliferation of computer and video games in which virtual people, critters and objects are blown away without consequence. We allow our enthusiasm for the First Amendment to overrule our common sense about the impact of violent movies and song lyrics. We pretend fictional violence won�t cause violent behavior in our children. Any discussion of gun control gets shot out of the air by constitutional overkill and by political fear of the National Rifle Association. We�re left to think that things like the Jonesboro shootings "just happen." They don�t just happen. They are the horrible consequence of society�s collective decision-making. Government officials and parents must figure out how to build a society safe for our children. Here are some starting points: P Make parents responsible for children younger than, say, 14. If kids don�t go to school or if they commit a crime, parents will be accountable. Prison time doesn�t make sense, but we could boost parental responsibility by requiring community service of parents who allow children to be truant, to steal or to use guns that should be locked up. Promoting parental accountability conflicts with the social norm of parental autonomy. P Take violence in television programming, music and video games seriously. Fast-paced video action � even without blood and guts � allows our excitement to drown out the burden of responsibility. Television displays for children violence without real consequences. Children need to know that shooting people kills them. The Jonesboro suspects, 11 and 13, must understand how the schoolday shootings ruined the lives of the victims� immediate families and hundreds of relatives. P Restore an orderly environment for kids. Go ahead and laugh, but I would return to more formal schools with dress codes for students and teachers. Most kids need school clothes to remind them they are not at soccer practice, in the back yard or at a party. Children must learn self-respect and respect for others. And they must learn it over and over again. P Teach coaches, Scout leaders and other youth leaders about childhood development and how to encourage age-appropriate activities and responsibilities. They must learn to recognize warning signs of serious behavioral problems. We�re always boasting about how sports build self-esteem, but how many coaches have a genuine strategy for doing that? P Think about what we as adults say to kids. Frankly, I�m astonished by the way most adults talk to children. It�s like they�re trying to be their buddies. Students don�t need teachers to suggest pranks to play on other teachers, to tell jokes about picking their noses or to repeat tales of kids mistreating kids. While adults need to "connect" with kids, most kids learn the childish aspects of life quite well from their peers. Similarly, there is an unexamined notion among adults out there that tipping off kids to the tough side of life will help them deal with it. Guess who taught my son how to damage a car�s paint job with a key: It was a DARE officer speaking at school, that�s who. What was this guy thinking? P Reconsider our methods of child-rearing and insist on roles for both parents. We allow far too many distractions in family life. Perhaps both parents work. Perhaps they�re divorced and have shared custody. Perhaps the children or the parents have extra activities that too often interfere with dinner. Family law tends to see fathers more as economic providers than as role models or caregivers. That�s wrong. Fathers must be involved in their children�s development. The behavior and personalities of our children are the direct result of the family, school and social environments in which they are raised. Addressing today�s child-rearing problems will be unpleasant because it means giving up some of the freedoms that are fundamental to American values. David Webber is an MU associate professor of political science. You can reach him via e-mail at [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- Two rules in life: 1. Don't tell people everything you know. 2. Subscribe/Unsubscribe, email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] In the body of the message enter: subscribe/unsubscribe law-issues
