THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, February 8, 1995 TAG: 9502080011
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A11 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: Short : 43 lines
I am a 10th-grader at First Colonial High School. My younger brother was shot to death by a ``friend'' last year.
I have to get something off my chest. Sometimes I wonder what kind of justice we have in this country. I mean, we have kids who get ahold of guns and kill their best friends over dumb stuff. A youth who is less than 16 years of age should spend some time in jail and talk to a murderer in person. Let him/her know what it is like to enter the prison system! Let the inmates show what it's like to have no rights.
One thing that bothers me is the parents who think they are not responsible for keeping their guns locked up. The parents should be just as responsible, if not more responsible, for the crimes their children commit.
What has gone wrong in our society? A great deal of what is wrong is the violence that is now shown on TV. The kids are watching stuff that they think they can do, and they don't think about what will happen to them in reality.
We need to get handguns off the streets. Many teenagers have to listen to their parents fight, and anger builds up inside. They lose their tempers and react violently.
Another thing that can cause some people violent anger is being rejected. That person will become very depressed and sometimes wish that he was no longer alive.
There are different ways to get anger out, such as hitting a baseball around. That might sound really crazy, but it really does help. I also think if the parents would just sit down and listen to their teenagers, it would help a great deal. I also think that parents should take a day alone and spend it with their kids.
What I have written has come from my heart. It might be hard to do, but just try it for a few weeks. If you have enough faith in yourself, you can do it. I have faith that you can do it.
JAMES CARRIER
Norfolk, Jan. 26, 1995 by CNB