I have no doubt that the violence by youthful thugs in Chicago defeated that city's offer to hold the 2016 Olympics. And, I have no doubt that the thugs will also discourage lots of visits to the city from even peaceful U.S. citizens like you and me.
Intelligent folks, like you and me, ought to be asking ourselves why youth violence is so wide-spread in our country. The issue has certainly been discussed enough. Here are few thoughts:
1. The prisons are full of young men, in fact they're bursting at the seams. Therefore, obviously, imprisonment is NOT the answer. It is PART OF the answer. Remember, Chicago differs from almost any other city in America, only in degree. It's just a matter of how much violence there is in each.
2. We have to stop thinking that punishment is going to discourage youth crime. The answer lies somewhere else.
3. You will never cure the problem of violence without dealing with the huge number of weapons out there.
4. The best way to stop youth violence is with adult supervision.
Any suggestions???
6 comments:
Maybe one solution might be some version of the kibutzes like they have in Isreal. The people who are in charge are kind and loving social worker types who teach the children from the cradle on. The parents can visit and and have week ends with them after work. That way they are talkecd to, NOT beaten up every time they try to learn some thing new. Parents of so many of these kids work two or more jobs and are totally worn out and exhausted and have not had parenting skills exampled and haven't the time nor inclination to learn after 12 - 16 hours of working. Just a thought...
There's plenty of violence in Rio too, perhaps the thugs were one factor in Chicago's failure to win the Games, but not the major factor. It is time for Brasil to have the opportunity to show off its beauty, culture and abilities. It means a great deal to the developing world (though Brasil is probably not in the developing category any longer) - the US and Europe have had their chances.
Yes - adult care, supervision, role modelling - this is what is sadly lacking and desperately needed. I don't know what the answer is - but a society that cannot care for its children is in trouble. I like Alice's idea - imagine if all the money used to throw children into prison were used for rehabilitation programs, or education and training programs.
It's a multi generational problem - people simply don't know how to raise children well because they missed out themselves. By and large, there's no point blaming the parents without offering some sort of assistance. By accident of birth, the parents have had no "training by example" in how to be a parent. Maybe kids need to go to school and spend a lot more time there, so that schools fill the roles meant for parents (homework, sport after school, dinner). I am just throwing ideas out there....
Thank you for the comments. I wasn't arguing that Rio shouldn't have the Games, though. I was only speculating on why, at the last minute, evidently, Chicago lost them.
I don't think the thugs were the big problem as far as the olympics were concerned. I think the IOC is still upset that the SLC games screwed up the fine tradition of bribing the IOC members that select the cities. The belief that Chicago was a frontrunner was based on bad intel all along.
What? Corruption in world sport? What will we tell the children?
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