Every day, I read about a death. Sometimes to cancer, to a car accident, or to a shooting. Every day, someone comments. We are a public, rife with commentary.
My suggestion is that those that feel compelled to comment, strive further, and feel compelled to help with the problem. If you want to stop cancer, spread awareness - run those races - help at the hospital. If you think drunk drivers are killing everyone, speak to young people and encourage them not to drink or do drugs. If you hear about a shooting, please know that this occurs because those shooters have absolutely nothing else to do. They are bored and have no conscience to guide them.
Volunteer at the Girls and Boys Club. Start a rec baseball/softball team in an urban area. Be a Big Brother or Sister and pick them up after school and take them for ice cream, shoot basketball or to get a girls' nails done. Something simple. Stop writing commentary on how many shootings we have and do something.
My husband coaches and sees a lot of good that some are doing in the Lakeside/Tyner area. We do all we can to promote activity and sportsmanship. Why don't you all get off of your computer, close your mouths and move your feet?
Oh, and by the way, before a case even gets to the courts or District Attorneys Office, the damage has been done. The system is not rehabilitative in reality - that's what raising your kids is all about.
And it doesn't matter if you are Democrat or Republican, it takes a village.
Rachel Winfrey Beavers
Assistant District Attorney
* * *
Actions sometimes speak louder than words, however, a while back I read the below letter written by a judge in 1959 and his words still ring true today. The excuses we continually hear from people for either not doing anything at all or the ones doing the troublemaking really are getting on my last nerve. Read these words and ponder them.
Judge Gilliam's letter appeared as follows: Open letter to Teen-ager
Always we hear the plaintive cry of the teen-ager. What can we do?...Were can we go? The answer is GO HOME! Hang the storm windows, paint the woodwork. Rake the leaves, mow the lawn, shovel the walk. Wash the car, learn to cook, scrub some floors. Repair the sink, build a boat, get a job. Help the minister, priest, or rabbi, the Red Cross, the Salvation Army. Visit the sick, assist the poor, study your lessons. And then when you are through - and not too tired - read a book. Your parents do not owe you entertainment. Your city or village does not owe you recreational facilities. The world does not owe you a living...You owe the world something. You owe it your time and your energy and your talents so that no one will be at war or in poverty or sick or lonely again. Grow up; quit being a crybaby. Get out of your dream world and develop a backbone, not a wishbone, and start acting like a man or a lady. You're supposed to be mature enough to accept some of the responsibility your parents have carried for years. They have nursed, protected, helped, appealed, begged, excused, tolerated and denied themselves needed comforts so that you could have every benefit. This they have done gladly, for you are their dearest treasure. But now, you have no right to expect them to bow to every whim and fancy just because selfish ego instead of common sense dominates your personality, thinking and request. In Heaven's name, grow up and go home! - South Bend Tribune, Sunday, Dec. 6, 1959.
Mike Cox