Teenage Violence

It sickens me to think about the violence among our youth in this country.  Our teenagers, and 20-somethings for that matter, have virtually no respect for civil society.  The most recent victim of teen violence is 22-year-old Christopher Lane.  For those unfamiliar with Lane, he was visiting our country from Australia and attending college on a baseball scholarship. Two weeks ago Lane was shot and killed by a couple thugs as he was jogging along the road.  James Francis Edwards, Jr. (15) and Chancey Luna (16) have been charged with shooting and murdering Lane.  Michael Jones (17) has been charged with utilizing a vehicle from which a weapon was discharged and accessory after the fact of first-degree murder.  All three boys will be tried in adult court and those charged with murder will face a potential life sentence.

For the Fun of It

There is so much about this story that I find disturbing.  One of the accused told law enforcement officials that they were “bored” and killed Lane for the “fun of it”.  Essentially, this was a killing for sport.  But it goes to show just how much our society has fallen.  There is little respect for life among so many of our teenagers.  They do not value relationships and they apparently have nothing better to do than to kill random people.  How about getting a job?  Since so many of our youngsters feel that they are too good to work, a job may be out of the question.  Apparently, there isn’t an ounce of intelligence or bit of conscience between Edwards, Luna, and Jones.

Parent is a Verb

Here comes the question I am sure the rest of the world is asking.  Where the hell were the parents?  The writing was on the wall! Take the Twitter and Facebook accounts of those attributed to Edwards.  There are numerous posts that contain violent, criminal, and racist language.  One posting is that of a handgun.  Another post states, “At the end of the day it’s all about the kill.”  A twitter post reads, “90% of white ppl are nasty.  #HATETHEM”.  The list goes on and yet apparently nobody said a word.

Two of the parents have come forth in disbelief that their sons could have done this heinous crime.  The mother of Luna stated that her son and a couple of his friends were in a “wannabe” gang.  She maintained that her son is not a killer.  Seriously?  Edwards’ father claimed his son had no involvement in the shooting of Lane, but acknowledged his son had prior run-ins with the law.  Mom and dad, here is a clue.  They have already confessed to the crime.  Your sons are thugs and I partially blame you.  If you are so delusional that you are incapable of seeing the truth before your eyes, I can only imagine what the rest of your imaginary world is like.

Parents in this country need to recognize that the word “parent” is also a verb.  That means that action is required.  You need to know your kids’ associates.  You need to be involved in your kids’ lives.  You need to be on top of them and their social media.  To the parents of these thugs I say, stop being your child’s attorney and start facing the reality – your child is a killer and they took the life of an innocent man.

The Race Charlatans

Where are all the race charlatans?  If this had been a young black athlete gunned down by a few white teenagers, Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton would have been all over it like stink in a sewer.  But when the shooters are black and the victim is an innocent white male, the two super heroes of race relations are either silent or timid.  Where are the marches?  Where are the protests?

Additionally, when Zimmerman was found not guilty, the supporters of Treyvon Martin came out of the word work and demanded a Justice Department investigation.  Despite loads of evidence to show Zimmerman had no racial bias in his heart, the Martin supporters insisted it was a crime of race.  Yet, here we have a thug ranting about hating white people and there will be no calls from the NAACP, Sharpton, or Jackson to involve the Justice Department.  If there was a case that shows racial bias, this is it.  Let’s be honest; even if the Justice Department did get involved I cannot see the investigation going very far with Eric Holder behind the wheel.

The Bottom Line

People in this country should not have to live in fear that bored kids are going to randomly kill people.  The gun in this case did nothing.  It was the three thugs who decided to change their fates, as well as the fate of Lane.  They will likely have the rest of their lives to sit and think about their actions.  However, it is a tragedy that the friends and family of Christopher Lane will only have memories to carry them through their days.  It is also a tragedy that the charlatans of race will not step up and do the right thing.