Kids With Guns

A few weeks ago, Northern Illinois University became a statistic. Another shooting, another kid with artillery, more decent folks shot down. These days, it's nothing new. A week before that, Louisiana Technical College had it's own little firestorm. From a nursing student no less. Then of course we're rapidly approaching the anniversary of that mess that occurred over at Virginia Tech.

This isn't your run-of-the-mill premeditated violence that occurs daily in inner cities. No ties to gangs. No fancy shoes, diamond encrusted jewelery, or any of the other things that spawn urban violence. This is different. Premeditated is the word for it. These folks woke up in the morning and had their breakfast cereal with the plan of shooting a bunch of people by day's end. Most had zero intention of making it home for dinner. No, this is something new.

And it's nothing to be laughed about or celebrated in any way. Certainly nothing that gets turned off like all the other forms of youth on youth violence we're surrounded by. It's unacceptable to leave things like this with simply shaking the head and turning the page. Ignorance will not work here.

I dare say, ignorance is what got us into this mess in the first place.

I'm sure we were all there when Columbine became an ugly word. It was a dark and scary time, even for those of us who had escaped high school intact. The notion that you could walk into a room full of acquaintances and start shooting is too far out of reality for the likes of me. These were not our daily bastards, not the folks who make life a little more annoying. Just faces in the crowd. People who you may have recognized from a class, but didn't know their name offhand. And they were killed, simply for where their personal geography was from a bullet. It's scary stuff.

It gets even scarier when you do the math. Steven Kazmierczak, the young man who made Northern Illinois University a darker place, was 27 years old when it all went down. That means in 1999, he was 18. Same age range as Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold when they executed the shootings at Columbine.

We don't have random shootings committed by lost, young people. We have a lost generation.

An era of disenfranchised youth who have yet to fully adapt to the world as it stands now. People so confused and unattached, that the only reasonable solution appears to be opening fire on a crowd of colleagues. Where a blaze of glory, followed by a quick end, seems to be the only real statement of their existence.

These youngsters were my peers. I share their generation. Still, I'm not sure I can ever understand what led to this. The cause and effect, topsy-turvy occurrences that pushed all these people over that edge will probably never be made clear to me. That edge is beyond me, something I try to steer clear from.

But I've come close. I've snuck a peek over it once in awhile. Tried to make heads or tails over my options. And I've had plenty of company. Day in and day out, I see more and more of the disenfranchised weigh those options. A lot of them don't feel like their ready for this place. Unadapted. Obsolete even. No sense like they're even a cog on the gear of life's clock. The past came with few explanations for them, and the future..........well, the future is a mess. Even those firmly experienced in the times will attest to that.

And I can't go blaming violent movies, or ultra-realistic video games. Music and dress are not responsible for any of this. They've had their part, no doubt, but cannot stand trial all alone. What is to blame? I'm not sure. I've yet to find the answers, try as I might. How does one guide a soul who's lost? Especially when they're asking questions you never completely answered yourself? I've yet to figure it out.

But I know this much, that lost generation is getting older. They're in college now, graduating even. They're gonna be in the real world soon, where things are even more bloodthirsty and cruel. And they may still be confused. Still convinced that raw firepower is a viable option. A decision they may make when in general proximity of any of us. It's a scary thing when you can't trust the person standing next to take your well-being into account.

So what's left? Not much. Wish well for these people I guess. Hope they find that special someone who has the time and patience to understand them. Hope maybe they can afford therapy. Hell, just plain hope they can live to an age where they can laugh it off someday. Try and stay understanding of the folks who pop in and out of your life. Be open, be civil,be a friend even. Don't give them a reason to succumb to that kind of mentality. Who knows? We might all get to our 50's, and make a toast to getting out of this godforsaken time with all our parts.