For a Change

In Chicago, an honor roll student teenage boy was beaten to death for refusing to join a gang. He did not want to associate with them and the beat him until his last breath was taken. Sad to say that you hear about this often, but, to stop and think about it, there is a major problem here. What is the whole purpose of a gang? To belong to something or to be accepted by a group of peers. I grew up in Portsmouth, Virginia. This city unfortunately is known for crime. As children, we did not think of killing each other. We has neighborhood rivalries, but we competed with sports and fights did break out, but things did not lead us to murder. The scene of the world is changing very rapidly. Children are undergoing intense stress and anxieties just as much as adults. The pressures of joining a group of people who have bad intention with almost every action. Resistance could mean death. Many of our youths are lost. Lost to a world that feeds them the idea that their acts of badness is somehow liberal. They have the freedom to do as they please. But with freedom comes responsibility. Children and many adults do not exercise this freedom soundly. These kids are a product of their adults' foundation. A blood splattered one. Man cannot make this world better alone. The world will change. It will change quickly and permanently. The horrible things we see and hear about will have no place in the changes that are destined to occur.