The ridiculous violence in N.O.

Zack Lee said

no it is certainly not an excuse but there is a difference between giving an excuse and identifying the root of the problem. I think there is a mindset in a lot of our poverty stricken areas that you get out in one of three ways: Sports, Music or Crime. You don't make it in the first two unless you are elite. There is a another way but I don't think it is always visible to theses kids.

Bornraised, this has been eating at me too so I am glad you posted. It is very sad about your nephew but if he was surrounded by positive influence and still went bad, then he is the exception not the rule. There will always be exceptions I'm afraid.

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Yeah, I think my cousin was just bad. I think he was a sociopath. Didnt seem to have it all there. The scary thing is I am seeing a lot of kids with those same characteristics. "Dead eyes"

As far your post above. Some of that is true. Many feel trapped and feel the only way to get it is to take it by any means.

But the trip part about it is MANY OF THEM DONT WANT TO ESCAPE. They dont want to leave the hood. They think this is life. They truly believe this is how life is supposed to go. So many kids I talk to talk about jail as if its a right of passage. Death is amost a guarantee so they figure enjoy life while they can. It's a real real screwed up way of thinking that has surpassed pure socio-economics.




As far as how to fix it? I just dont know. Holding parents responsible is a big part of it, but how do you tackle that? There are bad parents everywhere. Education is a big part too, but some of these kids just simply dont care about school, and just make it hard for the other kids. Some parents are even scared of thier kids. (My cousin actually pulled a gun out on his father, sad). And you can go the Police State route, have police on every block, but I am not a fan of that situation. It's still violence. Your still imprisoned in your home, and Im not inclined to believe the policement are immune to the same sociopathis tendencies that the thugs in the street are too. And a police state doesnt fix the root of the problem.

Maybe, eventually the bad will eliminate themselves. Unfortunetly in the process innocent lives like little 5 year old Brianna die.