Terrorists In Our Midst
The massacre in Omaha followed a familiar pattern: troubled kid decides to go out in twisted blaze of glory, gets an automatic weapon and kills several innocent people before taking his own life. And what have our leaders done to stop these terrorists among us? Our government expects the threat of the death penalty to deter them from acting on their evil impulses.
The threat of capital punishment didn’t deter the murderous kid from Omaha, or the psychopathic student from Virginia Tech, or the teen killers from Columbine. Why? Each of these young murderers administered the death penalty on themselves after finishing their killing spree.
Capital punishment never deters suicidal killers. With violent crime rates still on the rise in America, it apparently isn’t deterring many other would be killers either. A more effective crime prevention policy would include aggressive intervention in the lives of at risk kids before they resort to violent crime.
Like the others, the young killer from Omaha was known to the local law enforcement authorities. And like the others, the authorities didn’t do enough to put this kid on the right path. There’s no magic bullet when it comes to helping emotionally disturbed youngsters. Some need long term mental health counseling. Some need job skills training. Some just need a stable home environment where they can feel welcome.
Assisting wayward kids and giving them an opportunity to live a normal life isn’t glamorous. However if we hope to stop the carnage in our schools and shopping malls anytime soon, it’s worth the investment.
December 10th, 2007 at 2:32 pm
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Gary Reed
Forum Editor
December 12th, 2007 at 3:19 am
Well put, Bob. I agree. And it may not set well with some folks, but I have to admit I felt sorry for Robert Hawkins. Won’t even try to justify that, but still …
December 18th, 2007 at 4:52 am
[…] program of aggressive intervention in the lives of at risk kids would work better. It would require a long, slow process of reaching out to one youngster at a […]