Valuing Childhood
The
value of childhood is easily hturred (变得模糊不清) in today’s world. Consider some
recent developments: The child-murderers in the Jonesboro, Ark. schoolyard
shooting case were convicted and sentenced. Two boys, 7 and 8, were charged in
the murder of an 11-year-old girl in Chicago.
Children who
commit horrible crimes appear to act of their own will. Yet, as legal
proceedings in Jonesboro showed, the one boy who was able to address the court
couldn’t begin to explain his acts, though he tried to apologize. There may have
been a motive-youthful jealousy(妒忌) and resentment. But a deeper question
remains. Why did these boys and others in similar trouble apparently lack any
inner, moral restraint
That question echoes for the accused in
Chicago, young as they are. They wanted the girl’s bicycle, a selfish impulse
common enough among kids.
Redemption (拯救) is a practical
necessity. How can value be restored to young lives distorted by acts of
violence The boys in Jonesboro and in Chicago will be confined in institutions
for a relatively short time. Despite horror at what was done, children are
not-cannot be-dealt with as adults, not if a people wants to consider itself
civilized. That’s why politicians’ cries for adult treatment of youthful
criminals ultimately miss the point.
But the moral void(真空)that
invites violence has many sources. Family instability con-tributes. So does
economic stress. That void, however, can be filled. The work starts with
parents, who have to ask themselves whether they’re doing enough to give their
children a firm sense of right and wrong. Are they really monitoring their
activities and their developing processes of thought
Schools,
too, have a role in building character. So do youth organizations. So do law
enforcement agencies, which can do more to inform the young about laws, their
meaning, and their observance (遵守).
The goal, ultimately, is to
allow all children a normal passage from childhood to adulthood (成 年), so that
tragic gaps in moral judgement are less likely to occur. The relative few who
fill such gaps with acts of violence hint at many others who don’t go that far,
but who lack the moral foundations childhood should provide-and which
progressive human society relies on. |
