Teen Violence

Shamefully, I don't watch the news much anymore. Yes it makes me ignorant, but it also helps me sleep a little better at night. After working for a few years at a courthouse, I became extremely burned out by daily crime, hatred, and violence. So now I only hear about the really big stuff from Twitter and Facebook. Today I got wind of Christopher Lane, the Australian baseball player here visiting his girlfriend's family who was randomly shot down by "bored" teens, and now Delbert Belton, an 88-year-old WWII vet who was beat to death by a couple of teens.

WHAT IS GOING ON IN OUR COUNTRY?

Seriously, has senseless violence in the United States always been this bad, only they didn't hear about it in the old days before Internet, or are we collectively screwed as a nation because of gruesome torture movies, easy access to firearms, and violent video games? Is this a result of telling our children they can't be spanked, and giving them too many choices? Maybe I'm being naive because I was young at the time, but I don't remember the 80s and 90s being quite this bad.

Sorry for the rant, but it was something I had to get off my chest. My heart goes out to the families of these two victims, and I hope their murderers get what they deserve. I also hope we will have a brighter future as a nation, because so far, things aren't looking so good.

What do you think? Is there something more we can do to stop these ridiculous murders from happening?

Sick-lit: What??

Today I came across a VERY frustrating article (click here to read). The journalist for a U.K. website went off on how "sick-lit" is becoming a disturbing phenomenon. At the top of the references was the book The Fault in Our Stars by John Green (if you haven't read it I highly recommend you do so). The journalist goes on to say, "While the Twilight series and its imitators are clearly fantasy, these books don't spare any detail of the harsh realities of terminal illness, depression and death."

I'm not sure what goes on this journalist's life, but it would appear that they live in a bubble.

 I've done the "raising a teenage girl" thing before with two stepdaughters who (thankfully) turned out to be intelligent, respectful, well-adjusted women. My daughter is about to turn 13 in just a couple of days (*sob*). I know there's some pretty dark stuff that can go on in a teen's life in today's society. My own slightly tainted childhood experiences include having a cousin die of cancer when I was just 8 and pulling up to his house just behind the hearse. If this journalist is suggesting we shelter our children from such literature because of these serious subjects, they're just living in serious denial. Terrible things happen. Young children die of cancer and commit suicide. Kids cut themselves to express their feelings. Small children are gunned down in their classroom by a madman. We know this from real life. If teens are reading books about these things, it's up to their parents to talk to them about these issues.

I read the same books as my daughter so I know exactly what goes into that intelligent brain of hers (she's an 'A' honor roll student). I'm going to have her read The Fault in Our Stars so she can see just what kids facing cancer have to deal with. I know it will make her a more compassionate person. She knows two kids in school who were very recently diagnosed with cancer. Would this U.K. journalist suggest it's better for my daughter to live in the dark and not understand the kinds of things her schoolmates will have to face? I promise you, there is nothing in this book that "glamorizes" cancer. It's a very sad, depressing book in which teens die. It's reality.

Tannith Carey of dailymail.co.uk really needs a wake up call.

**As as side-note: I certainly don't condone writing on these subjects to get higher sales. I don't think it was really a "trend" when John Green wrote this book.**