A Personal Editorial Regarding the Tragic Shooting at Columbine High School

 by Doug Oakes

In the aftermath of a tragedy like this, everyone weighs in with his or her opinions as to the cause and what to do. The standard hand wringing starts over things like better gun control, better counseling at schools, more security at schools, less violence in movies etc. While some of these are valid options, I believe the root cause and solution is much deeper and will take more than a few laws or government programs to solve.

Although I cannot fathom what would motivate a teenager (or anyone for that matter) to want to kill another human being, I can see that our society at large has molded many young people in this image. The root cause is not the movies that kids are exposed to, or the fact that they can access recipes for making bombs on the Internet. The root cause is sin. Plain and simply, these kids were never really taught right from wrong.

Although I have never met any of the families involved, I cannot help but partially blame the parents for what has happened. The current generation of young people is being raised in a society that believes that all people are generally good. Society believes that children only learn evil from others. We don’t train our children what is right and what is wrong when they are young. Instead they are allowed to make their own choices until they do something so obviously wrong that parents are forced to respond. Kids are not disciplined when they are young. As they grow older they are forced to make moral choices, with no moral upbringing to tell them what is right. So, they turn to the media, peers and other sources to determine the  right course of action. No wonder violent movies and TV have such an influence on today’s youth.

I thank God that my parents taught me, at an early age, that certain things were right, and others were wrong.  They also built a sense of family, so even if the world was mistreating me, I could always come home.

Solomon wrote "Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old(er), he will not depart from it" (Proverbs 22:6). To me, this means that we should train our children when they are young, so they can make good moral choices when they get older. The opposite is also true. If we do not train up our children in the right way, they will have no path, no direction to tell them which way to go.

I know of many families that do not choose to give their children moral training when they are young. They believe that restrictions will stifle a child’s creative outlets. I guarantee that there are certain creative outlets (such as blowing away classmates) that should be stifled. The parenting strategies of the 60’s and 70’s are backfiring on us. We didn’t train up our children in the right moral way, and so they choose their own path, that of death and destruction.

Children need boundaries. A child raised without any boundaries grows insecure. He does not feel love from his parents. When I hear the quote "He hated everyone, and everyone hated him," I picture a family that never gave their child a reason to feel like he belonged. Mom and dad probably both worked outside the home, and didn’t give the child a real family to belong to. Instead he had a house to sleep in and a place to eat. How sad that so many young people involved in the tragedy did not want to go home, but preferred to spend their time of grief with their friends. I weep for these families also.

What can we do? The first answer is simple. Pray. If we lift our young people up to the Lord, He can change their hearts. Although I know that God will not force anyone to obey Him, He can change hearts.

The next solution is personal. Parents, if you have young children, teach them right from wrong. Do not allow them free reign over their lives. They do not have the moral knowledge to make good choices, and it is up to you to teach them "the way they should go."

If your children are older, you can still make a difference. Get to know your children. Find out what they believe, and then let them know what you believe. If both parents work outside the home, cut back work hours, so that one parent can be home when the kids are. Teach them through your influence.

Finally, we need to help those that have never learned right from wrong. Reach out, not in judgment, but in love.  If we can reach the hearts of those young people who are so troubled, we can make a difference.

Remember that Christ is supreme and that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to [His] purpose (Romans 8:28).