Growing Violence in Toronto
I love living in the city but the increase in violence is very disturbing. On Boxing Day on Yonge Street in the heart of the city, with the street filled with shoppers, a gun battle erupted between two groups of youth. The result was the death of a beautiful young girl of 15 years who was an innocent bystander who had been out shopping with her Mom and her a sister. Six other were sent to hospital and at last report one was still in critical condition.
This senseless violence and death evokes the expected outcry from the public and the empty promises up both politicians and authorities. Clearly there is not a simple solution to the current trend of youth gangs and guns. I could fill pages with reasons for their existence but they do exist and they will not be eliminated quickly or easily. Without dealing with their causes and there are many; the short term solution maybe to increase the judicial response to possession of weapons, be it guns or knives etc. with an immediate jail term for possession and longer jail terms for their use. That would help with giving by the police a chance at removing some of the most violent youth from the streets and bringing about a little more safety for our society.
I am less concerned with my own safety in the city as I am with the safety and the way of life of the young people. I am a parent of a 13 year son. He is in relative safety living in a small town of less than four thousand up on the shores of lake Simcoe but it is only relative. The violent way of life chosen by some of the young could very easily make it's way into the smaller communities too.
Today I can't help but feel the sorrow, anger and outrage of the parents, family and friends of this young girl. She was by the newspaper reports an "A" student, athlete and role model within her age group and school. She was not part of the youth problem but that violent way of life ended her short life before it could really begin. When or if the culprits are caught and brought to justice, that justice will only address the outcome and not he cause. If the cause is be addressed it will need the support of the community and society as a whole to embrace a change in thinking and attitude toward violence.
To use a quote I heard many years ago "It is not guns that kill people but people who kill people." Yes we have to try to get rid of guns immediately but we must purge from society the attitude toward the acceptance violence.
This senseless violence and death evokes the expected outcry from the public and the empty promises up both politicians and authorities. Clearly there is not a simple solution to the current trend of youth gangs and guns. I could fill pages with reasons for their existence but they do exist and they will not be eliminated quickly or easily. Without dealing with their causes and there are many; the short term solution maybe to increase the judicial response to possession of weapons, be it guns or knives etc. with an immediate jail term for possession and longer jail terms for their use. That would help with giving by the police a chance at removing some of the most violent youth from the streets and bringing about a little more safety for our society.
I am less concerned with my own safety in the city as I am with the safety and the way of life of the young people. I am a parent of a 13 year son. He is in relative safety living in a small town of less than four thousand up on the shores of lake Simcoe but it is only relative. The violent way of life chosen by some of the young could very easily make it's way into the smaller communities too.
Today I can't help but feel the sorrow, anger and outrage of the parents, family and friends of this young girl. She was by the newspaper reports an "A" student, athlete and role model within her age group and school. She was not part of the youth problem but that violent way of life ended her short life before it could really begin. When or if the culprits are caught and brought to justice, that justice will only address the outcome and not he cause. If the cause is be addressed it will need the support of the community and society as a whole to embrace a change in thinking and attitude toward violence.
To use a quote I heard many years ago "It is not guns that kill people but people who kill people." Yes we have to try to get rid of guns immediately but we must purge from society the attitude toward the acceptance violence.
posted by Whine 'n' Cheese | 2:40 p.m.
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