Recently we have seen the tragedy of teens killing teens in high schools first in the United States and then here in Canada. These shocking events have necessarily led us to ask how and why such terrible things can happen. Commentators have generally emphasized either violence in the media or availability of guns, depending whether they are speaking from a conservative or liberal viewpoint. Neither of these can be dismissed as a contributory factor, but I think we need to look at a couple of other ways our broader culture contributes to youth violence. First, we have to acknowledge the level of real, as opposed to imaginary, violence that exists in our society.
Domestic violence is still very prevalent, and directly effects many of our children.
But there is at least now a societal recognition that this is wrong and criminal. The same cannot be said for state sanctioned violence. At the very same moment, his air force was busy pulverizing the infrastructure of another nation that had refused his ultimatum. Secondly, there is a pressing need to teach our young people tolerance, and to teach by example. There is a striking level of divisiveness in contemporary youth culture, with high schools divided into rival tribes of goths, preppies, jocks, punks and whatever else is the flavour of the week.