Headlines

I typically stay away from any and all news in any form. I don't watch the news on TV, nor do I read it in the paper or online, nor do I listen to it on the radio. I just prefer not to know. Really.

Then my husband blogged about a recent story. I followed the link, read the story, and noticed some of the other headlines. Here are a sampling of the headlines I saw with just a couple of my many, jumbled thoughts. (Note: I have found that my views on responsibility tend to be unpopular.)

Texas Police Say Baby Probably Cried Before 14-Year-Old Mom Killed Him in Flush Attempt
What has happened to this child that she felt it was OK to have sex at 14 and then try to flush her baby down the toilet while it cried? While I don't know what should be done to those involved (the girl, the baby's father, the girl's parents), I do know who I feel is responsible. I believe the responsibility is shared three ways between the parents, the girl, and the father, in that order. Parents hold the responsibility of raising their children in a loving, caring, nurturing environment, the kind of environment where kids don't feel the need to have sex, hide their pregnancies, and kill their babies. The girl is old enough to know it is wrong to deliberately kill another human being, especially a helpless infant. The father, whomever it is, has responsibility simply because he fathered the child, even if the responsibility is just in the fact that you shouldn't be having sex as a teen or with a 14 year old.

Family Outraged After Colorado 3rd Grader Suspended for Sniffing Marker On It
At first glance, it looks like the school is simply over-reacting and they may have. Regardless, they did reduce the suspension from 3 days to 1 when the parents complained. However, what I noticed was that the child was repeatedly told to stop and refused to obey his teacher. That alone, without considering the danger of huffing, deserves discipline of some sort. The child needs to learn to respect his teacher and the parents better get serious about being parents before they find themselves with much bigger problems to deal with. And no, I'm not a strict disciplinarian type of parent; I'm often too easy on my kids. Yet my kids know and understand what it means to respect authority and behave properly.

Man Gets Death Penalty for Killing, Mutilating Girl in Cannibalistic Fantasy
This man is just plain horrid. What was really sickening about this story was that the defense is trying to claim he should hold full responsibility because he suffered from being socially awkward as a child and his dad didn't tell him he loved him enough. This is one of those times when I want to say, "Oh, puhlease!" He's an adult now. He's certainly old enough to know that if he's having these weird fantasies, he better not act on his deranged thoughts and get some help. No, sorry, he deserves no mercy.

Death of University of Wisconsin-Madison Student Spreads Fear
I'm amazed it took three recent deaths to get people to be afraid. We should all be afraid with headlines like these. Something is wrong with our world and we better stop making excuses and start taking responsibility for fixing it.

Juvenile Girl Will Not Be Charged for Abandoning Fetus on Airplane
Given that the baby was stillborn, I'm not sure if she should be charged with anything but she definitely needs some serious help. The parents, however, need to be seriously looked at. Again, where are the parents and what are they doing (or not doing) to raise a 14 year old who thinks it is okay to have sex at 14 and throw away the baby even if it is already dead. Gosh, at the very least, she should have known to quietly get some help from one of the chaperones rather than pretend she didn't just throw away a baby!

Oh, and don't forget the story I recently saw a teaser for on TV about the 3rd graders who plotted to kill their teacher. Not only did they think about it but they had a plan, gathered the materials, and had assigned jobs to each other for when they carried out the plan. I just can't picture a 3rd grader (my daughter is a 3rd grader) saying, "OK, I'll plunge the knife into her belly after you tie her up. Then, Bobby, you get the trash bag over her head while Kevin pushes her into it. Then, Sally, you get the bleach and wipe up the blood." Seriously, WHAT IS WRONG WITH THIS WORLD?!