Democrats

Sport Killing Brought On By Lack Of After School Programs?

February 20, 2007 ⋅  E-Mail Article ⋅  Print Article ⋅ Post a comment

As America focuses on the war in Iraq we are losing the war on the economy and even worse the war on our children. In the past tow to three years various states throughout America have had to cut back on civil programs because federal funding has been cut short and diverted to issues involved with Iraq and Afghanistan. The shortfalls for states have resulted in many more kids being out in the streets rather than in after school programs or athletic sporting programs. This lull in activity has resulted in numerous American kids venturing into what some call the extreme of extremist sports now known as sport killing. Our youth are so disenfranchised with American values and possibilities for their future that they have resorted to violent acts such as sports killing to make themselves feel like they are accomplishing something or that they are powerful. Sport Killing is the event where a group of individuals go on the hunt for vulnerable homeless people, when they find the homeless target they proceed to beat them to death, or at the very least near death. Will this be the legacy of the Bush Presidency? A failed youth corps. I think President Bush has better intentions than this and I hope that the Congress, the Senate, and the President redirect their attention back on the domestic United States and get us back on track before our society becomes even more corrupt and violent. First goes hope and then goes morals. Right now the youth of America are just beginning to lose hope; we still have time to change this around.

With so many manufacturing jobs going away the youth of America are feeling extremely vulnerable and insecure. These children feel that no one listens to their problems or concerns. These children see their proud parents losing their jobs daily and they feel betrayed by the system. They have no idea of whom and what the system is they just know they are afraid and mad. These children turn from studying and learning to violence and adrenaline seeking.

Want an example? Here is an example from CNN, All Nathan Moore says he wanted to do was smoke pot and get drunk with his friends. Killing Rex Baum was never part of the plan that day in 2004. “It all started off as a game,” Moore said. The 15-year-old and his friends were taunting the homeless man — throwing sticks and leaves — after having a couple of beers with him. No big deal, Moore says, but he’s sorry for what came next.
It was a mistake, he said, a sudden primal surge that made him and his friends Luis Oyola, 16, and 17-year-old Andrew Ihrcke begin punching and kicking Baum. “Luis says ‘I’m gonna go hit him,’ We’re all laughing, thought he was joking around,’” but he wasn’t, Moore concedes. “We just all started hitting him.” They hurled anything they could find — rocks, bricks, even Baum’s barbecue grill — and pounded the 49-year-old with a pipe and with the baseball bat he kept at his campsite for protection. Ihrcke smeared his own feces on Baum’s face before cutting him with a knife “to see if he was alive,” Moore said.
After destroying Baum’s camp, the boys left the homeless man — head wedged in his own grill — under a piece of plastic where they hoped the “animals would eat” him. Then, Moore says, they took off to grab a bite at McDonald’s.

While we cut after school programs to give monies to the same bastards blowing us up in Iraq we are betraying and ignoring our own youth right here in America. Children such as Nathan Moore are no longer engaged by society and with all of America either worried about the war on terror or their own job security we have become distant to our youth. We do not worry about their quality of life or their growing experiences; we are too worried about unemployment and outsourcing. While we ignore our youth they are out sport killing the homeless. A recent National Coalition for the Homeless report displayed that sport killing attacks are on the rise at an astounding number.

CNN reported last year that another homeless individual was murdered as he slept on a park bench. One of the skateboarders began whacking a homeless Mister Gaynor with a bat. As Gaynor lay dying, another skateboarder shot him with yellow paintballs, later remarking that the beating felt like “teeing off,” police said. Gaynor was beaten so badly his own father didn’t recognize him. Facing life in prison, the teens face trial for murder later this year. They have each pleaded not guilty to one count of first-degree murder and two counts of attempted murder.

With many parents having to work two jobs just to make ends meet we are leaving a nation of parentless children behind. With no federal money to run federal children’s programs we are leaving these youth to become involved in violent and gang related activities. Even the youth who are not involved in gangs are sitting around watching Jackass or Bumfights, both of which advocate inappropriate child behavior. Even our video games have become more violent. Many children involved with sport killing state they have become numb to the violence because of video games which depict extremely violent behavior.

Related Posts