This work is dedicated to the memory of every child who has needlessly lost their lives to one tragedy or another, to the millions more who continually suffer, and to their friends and families who are at a total loss as to what to do or how to help.  For every drop of innocent blood shed and for every tear that soaks the earth, may there be a new fighter willing to wage war against the plagues that come to claim our children:  a new voice to speak for them, a new angel to guide them, and a new friend of any age to love them.

"A Call To Arms," by George Marshall

The real world continues its rampage today as talking heads in ivory towers mumble about nothing.  Our kids, yes OUR kids, are falling left and right and thus far next to nothing is being done.  People who really care scramble for answers, but they don’t even know the question.  This is no time to get fancy, cute, or politically correct; for while they scratch their heads “the Bogey-man” roams the nation in his many faces and his many beasts, destroying every child in his path. 

Home was once a safe place to be, so they say, but many times it is no longer a haven of rest but a torturous hell that continuously and mercilessly torments its innocent victims until they must flee from sanity itself in order to save themselves.  This beast turns their worlds upside down – what was once right is now wrong and what is wrong is now right, or at least “normal” – and they are so confused that they lose their sense of direction, their sense of worth, and even their sense of self-awareness.  They become so afraid, hopeless, or angry that they make poor decisions, bearing the scorn of the very society that created them.  So what do they do?  One beast kicks them to another until they meet intervention, institutionalization, or death.

The drug beast comes to call upon untold millions of our kids, many of whom were kicked into his path by the home beast.  He promises them escape, emotional release, liberty from the terrors that plague their young minds, a voice with which to cry out against the society that is tearing them apart, and a voice with which to cry out for help.  The problem, of course, is that this monster will only give these kids the exact amount of rope necessary to hang themselves:  and when their heads drift into that noose, he pulls the rope and the show is over.  The temporary pleasures become more fleeting and each new pain they cause is more devastating than the last.  Biology and society make them sick, and there are too few in the trenches to help them heal.

Sometimes anger turns inward, sometimes outward, usually a combination of both.  Many of our little victims are forced to eat their anger, to point it inward.  It quickly turns into depression, a deadly poison that knows no names; shows no remorse.  Its cruelty knows no limits – it continually sears their minds with grueling pain, and fully intends to take their lives when its savagery comes to its fullness.  Every one of their lives is sacred and priceless, but they have long since forgotten that they are worth anything at all, and there are too few in the trenches to remind them.

When anger flares outward, it becomes aggression and violence.  Having lost control of this monster that has claimed them and the sanity required to make sound decisions and exercise appropriate self-control, this hideous monster brings forth hideous acts against others.  These children wish to swing back at the things that have hurt them without end, but enraged and flailing in the wind, they strike others.  Society piles it on worse for these kids, for it glorifies violence in every form and in every conceivable media:  then when these misguided teens imitate the heroes projected upon them, they are disowned and hated as they have become part of the societal disease that created them.  Viewed by many as mere statistics, they suffer as examples of more atrocious cases of the monsters kicking them from one to another, without anyone around who cared enough to intercept them before it was too late.

We need a vaccine, and we need it right now!  What’s the answer?  Well let’s ask the questions, shall we?  What are the causes of childhood and adolescent psychopathology?  In short, the big two are biology and trauma, perpetuated by societal ignorance.  Eliminate the causes and you eliminate the effects.  For the sake of our children, our families, our nation, and our planet, we MUST educate our people.  They must be able to recognize these diseases when they see them and have enough intestinal fortitude within themselves to stop it.  There was once a time when human societies were clueless about many fatal illnesses that we have all but wiped off of the earth with vaccines.  The time must come quickly when we all know as much about mental health as we do about physical health, and hold them both in highest regard.  When symptoms are recognized, causes can be determined and appropriate treatment can be given.  If it is biological, we can address it biologically until we can counter act it cognitively.  If the cause is societal, then we must change it.  Society is so conducive to disease that it is truly ridiculous.  It has become a cesspool of selfishness, greed, violence, and selective stupidity that begs for sickness in children and adults alike. 

Many politicians moan about the possibility of some sort of government involvement in “social engineering,” but something on a grand scale MUST be done, and done NOW.  Do these fools wish to watch our children die everyday for some out of touch ideal that doesn’t mean a thing anyway?  Holding onto an ideal is one thing, but answering the screams of our dying children is quite another.  Would that be expensive?  Maybe, but if you ask the person on the street if they would be willing to be taxed an extra 5 dollars per month in exchange for the safety of our children and the eradication of the vast majority of maladies that destroy them every second, I think they would gladly pitch in.  In any case, the preamble to the Constitution of the United States clearly states that the government is OBLIGATED to promote the general welfare of the nation, and the nation is deathly sick.  When our babies cannot go home without the fear of being raped, beaten, accosted, or shunned; when they can’t go to school without being physically or emotionally assaulted; when they can’t go outside and play without sacrificing their safety; and when they can’t turn on the TV without every conceivable negative behavior being glorified in one form or another; we can safely say that we live in a state of severe social illness and we had better get it straight.

Our children need us to act.  In the name of all things sacred, let’s stop the endless coffee table lip service and actually be moved into action.  Call, write, or e-mail your state and federal government representatives, senators, and executives.  Give to clubs that dedicate themselves to teaching children healthy ways to grow up in unhealthy neighborhoods.  Demand responsibility from every source of information children receive, whether by accident or design.  And if you have no REAL excuse, get involved yourself.  Love your own children and go love other children as well.  They can’t know love until it is shown them.  Be a part of the solution instead of the problem.  Dare to go out of your way a little.  Sometimes the smallest gestures of selfless love can mean all the difference in the life of a child.

Columbine tragedy remembered one year later.

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