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| Why Do Children Kill? by Ron Tunning Guest Commentary Monday, May 31, 1999 "The lesson for us to learn is that when we devalue others' lives, when we cast them out from our society and its institutions, we create a monumental problem. For if one cannot value one's own life, one cannot value the life of another." The afternoon I learned of the shooting at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado, I spent several hours on the Internet trying to keep abreast of the news rushing across the wires. So much of the information was unconfirmed, and therefore suspect, but it was clear that chaos reigned, not just within the walls of the school, but within the institutions we rely upon to provide us with information, and to protect us from the violent urges that are too commonly unleashed on an unprepared society. Early wire service reports over-estimated the number of deaths, and from the comfort of my chair, it seemed that law enforcement officials were proving to be inept at intervening to stop the carnage. It appeared that the media was reacting without its customary caution, prompted by a sense of urgency that pumped the adrenaline, and consequently, fueled the drive to move information at reckless speeds. But on the other hand, the actions of law enforcement officials suggested a less intense level of urgency - a cautious approach - when speed and a touch of heroism might have saved lives. The significance of this deviation from our expectations by these two crucial institutions, is that it further undermines our faith and trust in these institutions. Their strength, and their relevancy, rely upon our continuing confidence in their credibility. What I observe in America is a continuing and dangerous decline in respect for our traditional institutions, from family to church; from government to neighborhoods; from the military to law enforcement; from the media to the judicial system; and from schools to the corporations that employ us. The relevancy and the legitimacy of all these institutions are being questioned, and with good reason. And when the institutions we've entrusted to serve as the adhesive to bind us together as a culture and a society begin to erode, the foundation of our civilization cannot help but crumble. When our forefathers embarked upon the Revolution, it was because they had lost confidence in the British monarchy. King George was imposing taxes and laws which the colonists felt were unjust, and placed his interest above that of his constituency. The French and the Russian revolutions were prompted by the same circumstances - a conviction that the existing institution of government was corrupt, and neglected and abused its constituency. When one examines the motives of the boys in the Columbine High School massacre, and in the other shootings from Paducah, Kentucky to Springfield, Oregon, one cannot avoid the similarities. All of the teens were white, yet all felt they were outcasts. Their actions were not predicated upon a desire to obtain some personal, material gain, but rather, were caused by feelings of frustration and rage - of feeling impotent in the face of oppression. The traditional institutions had failed them, and indeed, had fostered their feelings of rejection and worthlessness. It should come as no surprise, then, that they reacted in violence - the last refuge of the threatened, when no other recourse seems available, and life holds out no promise nor hope. The lesson for us to learn is that when we devalue others' lives, when we cast them out from our society and its institutions, we create a monumental problem. For if one cannot value one's own life, one cannot value the life of another. Within minutes of having learned of the shootings in Paducah, Kentucky and the subsequent killings in Springfield, Oregon and Littleton, Colorado, I was on the telephone with friends, devastated by the violence, yet needing to find answers and meaning in the bloodshed. My heart went out to the victims and their families, but it was also drawn to the boys who had felt their only solution to their misery was to act violently. For the victims and their families I felt profound sympathy, but for the killers I felt empathy. Not because I've killed, but because I do understand their feelings of rejection and ostracism, and understand, having experienced it, their feelings of impotency and injustice. Having grown up in a society that despises gays, I've felt fully, as a gay child, adolescent and adult, the unfounded hatred and animosity directed toward gay people. My stepmother once told me she would prefer her child to be dead to being gay, and when one of my closest friends committed suicide because of his inability to cope with being gay, her response was "it was the best thing for him." As a Catholic I've endured the endless attacks on homosexuality by a hierarchy that has historically refuted truth, for fear that by ever admitting that it has erred, it will undermine its moral authority. Within the Church today are countless priests and bishops who have come to terms with homosexuality as being a condition of birth, not a matter of choice. They have accepted the complexity of God's creation, and reject the notion that they're capable of fully understanding it. And they embrace the true Catholic faith by acknowledging that implicit in sin is choice - that absent choice there can be no sin. The judicial and legal authorities in our nation, and especially in our community, continue to deny equal protection under the law for gays and lesbians. Though one cannot be fired, nor evicted from his home, nor prosecuted for his religious or political beliefs, one can suffer all of those consequences for merely being gay. It is an outrageous injustice, infringing upon the very essence of freedom, of one's right to be true to one's self, so long as the exercise of that right does not harm another. What I have long struggled with as a gay man is the notion that I should respect a system of laws and government that does not respect me - that I should yield to societal ethics when I am exempted from the protection of those ethics. It is, I am certain, why so many African-Americans and other minorities feel contempt for our society and its value system. My first impulse upon learning of each of the incidents that have turned our schools into bloodbaths was to assume that the so-called miscreants were gay. Though I certainly have no evidence that would prove such a hypothesis, I still suspect that to be the case, for there are no children so despised and abused as young homosexuals. If society is to protect itself, it must learn to protect all of those who are components within it. It cannot afford to disenfranchise a particular group, because such an action will ultimately result in revolt. The challenge is to learn to appreciate diversity, to respect the complexity of God's creation. To achieve that requires constant communication and a legitimate desire to understand each other, for hatred, and the violence it engenders, is more often than not rooted in fear. And that fear can nearly always be traced to ignorance. As we seek solutions to the problems of violence, perhaps we should begin by examining ourselves and our own prejudices and mean-spiritedness. If we cannot substantiate those feelings with concrete proof, it might mean that we need to re-consider our positions. Truth and knowledge, after all, will prevail long after we return to dust. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ron Tunning is a writer and a freelance columnist for the Kentucky Post edition of the Cincinnati Post. His website is at http://www.rontun.com The opinions expressed above are his own and he retains sole copyright to the material in his commentary which has been used here with his permission. "If society is to protect itself, it must learn to protect all of those who are components within it. It cannot afford to disenfranchise a particular group, because such an action will ultimately result in revolt." "The challenge is to learn to appreciate diversity, to respect the complexity of God's creation. To achieve that requires constant communication and a legitimate desire to understand each other, for hatred, and the violence it engenders, is more often than not rooted in fear. And that fear can nearly always be traced to ignorance." Please forgive me, UNDER CONSTRUCTION |
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