Symptom

The recent shootings in Toronto are another symptom of the malaise that is infecting more and more of our society. While mayors from major cities across the United States are calling for more gun control, and asking the Toronto mayor to join in their crusade, the problem goes much deeper than getting handguns out of the hands of young hoods and wannabe gangsters. That malaise is a lack of respect, not only for the law, but also for other people and that often includes their parents.

The very people we appoint to see that the law has some respect have slowly eroded the respect for the law. Judges and public prosecutors have plea-bargained and given so many wrist slaps that any penalty for wrongdoing has become a farce. We have been swayed by arguments against incarceration, partly because we cannot afford to keep offenders under lock and key, but mostly by our liberal thinking that says we ought to use words of encouragement rather than punishment for correcting the habits of miscreants.

Much of the problem starts with that screaming three-year old in the supermarket who throws a tantrum over a chocolate bar that it does not need. Any parent who cannot control a three-year old child has no chance of influencing a public school child who thinks it is acceptable to use their cell phone to film their friends kicking the crap out of another student. What hope is there then for any control over a kid who first carries a knife and then a gun? And finally uses them in a drive-by shooting?

If there was never any consequence at home, and now at school, what will these young people expect at the police station when they are apprehended for their first misdemeanour? A stern warning will have no more affect on this person that the serious talking-to they got as a tantrum-throwing three year old. These miscreants are savvy enough to know they have to put on the hang-dog look and not to tell the judge to Eff-off – that behaviour was only good in school and at home.

In a previous column entitled “Broken Windows” after the Boxing Day shooting in Toronto, I observed what success that program has had, and again, I think that may be a good step on bringing some sensibility to modern life. Respect, it is said, has to be earned, but if we instil respect in our children as they take their first steps, we may slowly erase one of the symptoms of a society that seems to be spinning more and more out of control. The time to show our children love and understanding is when they are learning all the wonders of this world. It is also the time to teach them respect for others.

There a number of other social problems behind the spate of shootings in Toronto and behind the local issues that are surfacing here in our small town, but I cannot help but think that a lack of respect is the source of many of our society’s ills. Maybe the next generation will find a way to correct the errors of their parents.


(“Perspectives” is available in soft cover at: http://stores.lulu.com/wwwalton )