The Wild West

People tend to think that adolescents who use physical force to harm others come from poor backgrounds. But this is incorrect. In fact, one can see violent behavior in youth from all backgrounds.

I recently read a story about three teenagers who physically and sexually abused their classmate for two years. They would tie him to a chair and beat him for hours on end. They would do all kinds of ugly things to him that cannot be repeated here. The police said there was no motive except to be mean and cause him pain and suffering. In the midst of their investigation, the police discovered they would humiliate him during class hours and would blackmail him outside of school hours.

According to the police, the victim avoided telling his parents and his teachers that he was going through hell. And nobody knew what was going on with him. This tragedy was finally exposed by a guide from a local youth movement. The guide heard about it from the friend of the abused teenager. But sadly this occurred after the boy had already left the school. The guide tried to convince the teenager to file a complaint with the police. It wasn’t easy, but he managed to persuade him in the end, and the three abusers were arrested.

Those spoiled brats were studying at a very prestigious school. Obviously, money wasn’t an issue with their families….. However, their parents couldn’t find the time to adequately supervise their children.  I don’t know what punishment these three sadists received because the media always tries to protect the accused particularly if they are minors. However, I believe they are probably out of jail by now. If they were incarcerated at all, it was certainly in some country club for juvenile offenders.

Unfortunately, you can find stories like these every day. What really bothers me is that it’s bad enough these criminals aren’t punished as they should be. In addition, after a short time, they go back to the community and move forward with their lives. And the victims frequently have to hide, and many times leave their school, and their home, and go elsewhere out of fear. And not only that, they may have lingering physical injuries as well as emotional trauma from this horrific experience. Where is the justice for the victim?

When I was growing up, Everybody respected the police. Plus they were intimidated by them. I believe this was a good thing. You didn’t see people walking around in public smoking marijuana and drinking alcohol. Unless I was living in a bubble.

Drug and alcohol use among youth is often an indication of emotional distress. Although minors are not supposed to be drinking alcohol, they somehow manage to get their hands on it. This is one of the risk factors for both being a victim and the perpetrator. Another contributing factor is the widespread availability of drugs. Indeed, adolescents today have no inhibition and no fears.

Nevertheless, the family has the most substantial impact on the behavior of young people. And everything starts with the upbringing that each one of us receives at home. Our upbringing shapes our lives in the years to come. But with a lack of proper guidance, sadly, the consequences can be tragic. Violent teenagers have a greater likelihood of engaging in other forms of problematic behavior and are more likely to be involved in crime in the future.

Another explanation is that people’s violence is often due to the lack of enforcement of the law. Even when the police do their best to arrest violent people, regrettably, the courts either release them back onto the street or else give them a ridiculous sentence that before you know it, they are committing crimes again………

In my opinion, adolescents who commit terrible crimes such as the one described above should be treated as adults. Don’t tell me that a 12 year old, let alone a 15 year old doesn’t know the difference between right and wrong. These punks need to be elevated to adult court and subject to punishments that an adult would get. What happens now is they get a slap on the wrist, and this is not justice.

I don’t know if it’s my imagination or not, but it seems to me that people have recently become less patient with each other (maybe this is another side effect of Covid). You can’t safely speak your mind and I’m not referring to your political opinions, which are better kept to yourself. In addition, people are driving much more aggressively. And the truth is, you are afraid to react to their actions as you don’t know how it would end………..

The bottom line is this, the problem of violence isn’t properly handled today by the people who are supposed to protect us. This includes the police, the politicians, and the courts as well. And by the way, where are the politicians? You only see them when there is an election. And afterward, they disappear. As a result, our personal safety is at risk because they don’t do their jobs………