Violence in the schools. Teachers verbally abused and physically assaulted in Baltimore schools. A gun fired at Albert Einstein High School in Montgomery County. Gangs in the schools in nearly every county in central Maryland. Bullying everywhere. Students beating others as friends stand by and film the beatings.
Violence on the bus. Road rage on the beltway. Drugs, gunfire and bloodshed on the streets. Violence in the media. Violence on computer games. And violence in our homes.
School administrators seem intent on pretending the violence doesn’t exist. Turn your head and see no evil. Too many politicians waste their time on distraction issues and trivia. Dysfunctional schools, dysfunctional politics, dysfunctional families.
(Among politicians Martin O’Malley is an exception. He has a clear-eyed understanding of violence and its devastating impact on our schools and neighborhoods. Whether or not you agree with his approach, he at least has faced the problem of violence head-on in election campaigns, and he worked persistently to reduce violence in Baltimore. Of course he had only limited success. In the age of the TV Total Makeover, we have little patience for hard work and slow progress.)
Marc Steiner’s essay “Youth Violence And More” is full of insights. The sentence that hit me hardest:
“We have kept Black America imprisoned and that prison culture has taken over the street and that street is the mirror America must face.”
I recommend Marc Steiner’s essay as a must-read for anyone concerned about culture, society and civility in Maryland. “Youth Violence And More” can be found on Marc’s blog at the Center for Emerging Media’s new Web page. Click on the Center for Emerging Media link on the blogroll, then click on Blog to see Marc Steiner’s blog. Do it now, before you forget. – Bernie Hayden
