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EDITOR IN CHIEF
Sarah Kickler
editorial editor
Mike Schmierbach
MIGHT EDITOR
Nicole Krueger
Sarah Kickler
Children should be held responsible for violence
Recent incidents of juvenile
crime cannot be blamed
simply on the media or
‘Southern culture’
Rambo’s got nothing on these
kids.
Ten days ago, two youths
gunned down their classmates
at Westside Middle School in Jones
boro, Ark. When the chaos ended, four
girls and a teacher lay dead, apparently
the victims of two boys not yet old
enough to drive away in their getaway
van.
Dressed in camouflage, Mitchell
Johnson, 13, and Andrew Golden, 11,
are accused of hunting their peers with
OPINION
Jonas
Allen
an arsenal worthy of
Hollywood’s most
spectacular action
movies. But while the
tragedy shocked the
nation and the small
town of Jonesboro,
Johnson and Golden
are not alone on the
chain gang of murder
ous minors.
On Dec. 1, 1997,
rvucnaei i^ameai, 14, waiKea into Hearn
High School in West Paducah, Ky.,
ready for a test. According to U.S. News
& World Report, what he tested were
the limits of a pistol, two shotguns, two
rifles and 700 rounds of ammunition.
Cameal was accused of killing three
classmates and wounding five others,
one of whom was left paralyzed.
Nearly two years before Cameal’s
rampage, 14-year-old Barry Loukaitis
aimed an assault rifle at an algebra
class, killing two classmates and a
teacher at Frontier Junior High School in
Moses Lake, Wash.
Despite the elements of a Hollywood
shoot-’em-up blockbuster, these stories
have no happy endings. The victims are
not extras; they are real people with real
families. Some are left really dead. The
only prequel we have is recounted in the
history of school records and family
memories.
And the thought of a sequel makes the
nation shudder.
Child violence is not a new topic, al
though the extent to which it is being car
ried out is not ordinary. For decades,
people have blamed delinquent behavior
on numerous things. First it was ghetto
life. Then it was the infamous media,
from music to television and movies. But
while the youths’ arsenals resembled
those in "Rambo,” the chances of the stu
dents being old enough to even remem
ber that movie are slim, at best.
The most recent shooting spree has
been blamed on a “Southern subculture
of violence,” according to U.S. News &
World Report. So why will the next stu
dents be out for first blood? Who or what
can we blame for these violent behaviors
when they happen again?
The transition from a “Field of
Dreams" to a “Children of the Com” so
ciety did not happen overnight. Accord
ing to U.S. News & World Report, the ju
venile homicide rate rose nearly 57
percent between 1990 and 1996. With
such violent crimes over the last two
years, it is ignorant to think the most re
cent actions will end up as isolated inci
dents.
What people have ignored is that the
scapegoat for these crimes has wandered
through the gates of nearly every demo
graphic in America. The most common
excuse for criminal behavior is an unsta
ble family. But according to The Associ
ated Press, one successful security sys
tem used parents and grandparents as
hall monitors at a high school in Alexan
dria, Va.
So it must have been an anomaly when
three youths beat a Eugene man to death
for $90 last July. After all, one of the as
sailants was tie victim’s own grand
daughter. There was no “Southern sub
culture,” no ghetto and no violent movie.
Rather, there were three teens, unable to
vote yet able to violently rob an elderly
man.
What has troubled the nation more:
that these crimes were committed at all
or that they were committed by children?
Johnson and Golden, Jonesboro’s sus
pected schoolyard assassins, thought like
adult criminals. According to U.S. News
& World Report, the suspects robbed
Golden’s grandfather to get seven of their
10 guns and barreled down specific girls.
They packed sleeping bags and a radio
and even stole a getaway van.
They also packed two bags of potato
chips and a stuffed animal.
These delinquents are truly children,
but they are also criminals and victims.
Robbed of their youth and innocence,
these children must be reprimanded for
robbing others of their lives. There is no
one to blame but the students them
selves. The future of these juveniles is in
the legal crosshairs, and the courts must
not fail to pull the trigger on accountabil
ity for these murders.
Children used to play Cowboys and In
dians and tie each other to trees. Now
they choose to hide behind trees and exe
cute their classmates. Scraped knee or
broken law, youths must accept the con
sequences of their “games.”
Jonas Allen is a columnist for the Emerald.
His work appears on alternate Fridays. His
views do not necessarily represent those of
the newspaper.
Thumb
TO THEU.S. HOUSE:
Surprisingly, the full
House voted down a
proposal by Oregon
Rep. Bob Smith that
would have made it
easy to cut down “un
healthy" forests. Un
der Smith's proposal,
forests would have
been rescued from the
dangers of fire and dis
ease by clear cutting.
Smith's plan and oth
ers like it are ways for
the timber industry to
circumvent environ
mental laws without
penalty.
Thumb
TO CHANGES IN
OREGON
UNIVERSITY
SYSTEM
FUNDING:
Oregon’s public in
stitutions will begin
keeping their own tu
ition money instead
of pooling it. The
Register-Guard ac
curately pointed out
some of the prob
lems with this in an
editorial. Its biggest
fear is a legitimate
one: Smaller schools
that charge less tu
ition and attract few
er out-of-state stu
dents, such as
Southern Oregon
University, will lose
funding from already
tight budgets. An ad
ditional concern not
raised by The Regis
ter-Guard is also cru
cial: The proposal
would hurt many vf
tai programs. Be
cause schools will
compete for stu
dents, especially out
of-state students,
programs that ap
peal to only a few
students and that
don’t attract wealthy
students or non-Ore
gonians will likely be
cut, while those
classes that prove
popular will become
redundant features at
all Oregon universi
ties. finally, the
greatest risk is that
large portions of
scholarship funds
will go to attract first
year, out-of-state
students, who will
then lose their fund
ing In following years
(after they have set
tled into Eugene).
CORRECTION
The Programs Finance Committee
funded an across-the-board increase of
1.9 percent—just below its benchmark
of 2 percent. The article “Senate ap
proves budgets, sets measures” (ODE,
April 2) quoted one RFC member as say
ing the committee had come in just over
its benchmark. In addition, the tag ac
companying the story should have said
ASUO Student Senate.
The article titled, “OSPIRG survey
protests surcharges at ATM machines"
(ODE, April 2) should have said the U.S.
General Accounting Office reported that
banks earned $2.5 billion in profits from
ATM surcharging in 1997.
The Emerald regrets the errors.