Their father has repeatedly beaten their mother. The moment that Ernie met Donna Ferrato, he began smashing his sister's doll. He didn't know yet that Ferrato was a photographer, but he wanted to show her what was smoldering inside of him. The familiarity and simplicity of the Golden Rule belie its depth. And yet the ways in which violence has traditionally erupted seem to be changing.
Rage is both more and less contained.
Scanning the nightly news, I almost anticipate suddenly seeing yet another teenager's fatal rampage, another community devastated and bewildered. In little more than a year, seven teenage boys in five states have taken 18 lives. Their average age was 14. Seeing this scene periodically play out on TV both deadens its impact and diminishes the desire for inquiry. The fatal shooting of a teacher by a student after a graduation dance in Edinboro, Pennsylvania, disappeared between the prior shootings in Jonesboro, Arkansas, and the subsequent ones in Springfield, Oregon.