When every instance of heinous behaviour can be so easily relayed, chronicled, and even packaged and sold, doesn’t it follow that we’re going to be subject to more reports about it? Yet, the progression of gun violence in 2005 Toronto, from a playground at twilight, to the steps of a church during a gang member funeral, to the corner of Yonge and Gould on Boxing Day, is a catastrophe that’s arguably taken 15 or 20 years to boil over. Maybe it’ll take at least that long to undo the damage, leaving libertarians to chortle at any suggestion that random weapon searches, or reviving the War Measures Act, or keeping 50 Cent out of the country, will help to remedy the dismal circumstances. Whether tales about school bullying, hockey squad hazing rituals, or hypersexualized displays of university residence exhibitionism, anyone who’s finished stumbling into adulthood can only feel relieved for having escaped the wrath associated with such antics. Will being subject to this daily media spectacle of Generation Y inanity result in even more curmudgeonly grumbling than how those who endured The Great Depression reacted to the post-WWII adolescent menace? The reactions definitely help distinguish between those currently in their 30s – often equal parts boastful and ashamed at not having advanced beyond their own teenage habits and tastes – and the current experience of kids with no first-hand awareness of the world before 1990. As for trying to preempt future social erosion caused by the tykes of today, there’s always the option of spiking the water with Ritalin – at least in all the fountains at elementary school.
GTA Trendwatch #6: Young offensive acts
December 27, 2005 · 2 Comments
Categories: trendwatch05
2 responses so far ↓
jim garrow // December 28, 2005 at 8:23 am
In my years as a teacher in the volatile Martin Grove/ Albion Rd district I recognized at that point the undeniable negative effect that absentee Fathers have on young people. I believe that what we are seeing now in the violence that is erupting in Toronto has a direct relationship to the breakdown of the family unit and the fact that these young fellows do not have strong positive guidance or examples in their lives. They need Fathers that will take them in hand and show them the way. This is not “exclusion” at work, it is the result of irresponsible behaviours on the part of men who refuse to be Fathers and boys who lack direction in their lives.
alanTdot // December 30, 2005 at 11:26 am
I disagree that this constant media attention on the actions of the next generation should be yawned at and looked at through a world weary eye, especially when concerning gun/drug violence. The media coverage has exposed some lazy reporting, and cliché ridden columns.
Let’s look at the media coverage of this past year and the rise of gun/drug murders. Every media outlet is excusing themselves with this line ‘ Gang Related Shootings/Murders ‘.
What that means is ‘Black kids killing each other’. And the Media says…yawn.
The only clear and relevant look at the causes and origins of this violence I have seen is in Pound Magazine. http://www.enterthebabylonsystem.com . They expose a war on drugs turned into a war on poverty, and a pharmicalogical situation being rectified by jail time. They take a look into the propaganda being sold to youth – for profit – by both sides.
The large elephant in the room that the mainstream media is hesitant to look at is the high percentage of Poor Black Men that are shooters and victims along with their respective ages.
Unless you subscribe to the theory that race is a biological factor in criminal propensity – and if you are, your delusions are useless to this conversation – then you have to see that there is a large problem in that 15 to 20 year old black youth have guns and are using them indiscriminately. How is it that in a prosperous country like Canada, there are kids who just fifteen years after their birth, are ready to take lives? Why aren’t they thinking about university? their future career?
Why are they cut off from the ‘good life’ in this country that thousands and thousands of immigrants want a part of?
If anyone had a chance to look at some local message boards after the terrible tragedy on Boxing Day – like Craigslists’ rants and raves – they saw the thin veneer of civility pulled back – in anonymity of course – and a flood of racist vitriol spewed out. It is obvious that some feel that it is biological. They are part of the problem.
And yeah, it might take 15 – 20 years to correct if we have the courage.
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