Gregory Freeman: Fear, Apathy Make Violence 'The Way It Is'. P-D 1/24/1995

Headline: FEAR, APATHY MAKE VIOLENCE `THE WAY IT IS'
Reporter: By Gregory Freeman

Publication: ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
Last Printed: Tues., Jan. 24, 1995
Section: WAR PAGE, Page: 11C, Edition: FIVE STAR

THE CRIME WAS bad enough.
   Police said a 14-year-old girl had been shot by a 17-year-old boy because he thought she belonged to the Crips street gang. Something surely worth dying over, right?
   The girl, Anna Jaree Satchell, was shot while she and others were at an apartment in Wellston. According to police, an argument broke out over whether Anna and a friend were members of the gang. At that point, they say, the 17-year-old pulled out a long-barreled gun and shot Anna.
   That in itself is enough to make one cringe. In fact, Anna belonged to no gang, her mother said.

But there was something else in the news story last week that made me stop chewing my Cheerios. It was in these paragraphs:
Satchell (the mother) said she doesn't care if police catch the killer - "It won't help me and it won't help Jaree" - and doesn't see any end to teens killing teens. That's just the way it is, she said.
Fortunately, police ignored her apathy and made an arrest in the case.

The silence over too many teen-age and young adult murders these days has reached the point of being deafening. Murders happen and no one sees anything. No one hears anything. And - perhaps worst of all - no one is outraged by anything.
Part of the problem is that too many people sit back and say "that's just the way it is." They accept things, without a willingness to fight back. In effect, that's just the way it is until someone stands up and decides that's not the way it will be.

So many people - adults - seem to be more willing to give up on kids than I've seen in a long time. Phrases like "You know how kids will be, " or "I just can't do anything with him" are uttered more and more.
When parents aren't willing to take responsibility for their own kids, it makes it harder for anyone else to deal with them. It often leads to teen-agers carrying guns and committing all sorts of crimes with them.

The rest of us have to take responsibility. And that means calling the police when we see or hear trouble. Some folks are so afraid of "getting involved" that they hesitate to call police even when they're robbed. That behavior, in my view, is just as irresponsible.
If you witness a robbery or a shooting, aren't you as responsible as the person who committed the crime if you say or do nothing?
The answer is a resounding "yes" - because you've allowed someone to remain on the street to do harm to the next victim. And that next victim could very easily be you.

What I'm saying is this: People have a choice. They can sit back in their homes, fearful, worried that they might become the next statistic or they can decide that they will stand up to crime.
How can that be done? Concerned neighbors can get together and form neighborhood watch programs. They can work closer with police to fight crime where they live. They can make a commitment that they will call police anytime they see something that's not quite right. They can vow to make it uncomfortable for those who rob, burglarize, operate crack houses or engage in other forms of crime in the neighborhood. They can prove that there's strength in numbers.
If for one month even the most apathetic people of a neighborhood vowed that they would take steps to fight crime where they live, crime most certainly would go down in that area during that period. But one of the essentials of fighting crime is neighbors watching out for one another. That would go a long way.

The homicide rate in the city dropped last year, as did crimes in four other major categories. That trend could continue this year if people would be willing to drop their fears - at least partly - and stand up for themselves, for their neighbors and for the places they live.
I suppose teen-agers will always kill each other and themselves - it's been happening since Romeo and Juliet - but we don't have to be accepting of that kind of behavior. We don't have to tolerate the murders and other crimes that we see.
For once, let's make a difference by standing up to the nonsense and saying, "not now, not here." And instead of sitting back waiting for someone else to do it, let's try doing what we can do.

Most teen-agers aren't bad. But we can't let the ones who are terrorize the rest of us.
It's time to stand up.

Daniel Schesch - Webweaver

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