Teens beat and kill homeless for sport.
That is just sick. This murder crosses a huge line, but it makes me ask – what are these teens being taught at home and in school that promotes their viewing the homeless as objects of entertainment instead of people? Is this how our vagrancy laws, rolling up the windows and locking our car doors, and “not in our town” debates get understood by our children? I have to wonder how those boys see minorities, women, and anyone else not like them. When equality of all people isn’t a central value, history has shown us that the “lesser” groups become objectified and used by the dominant group. How can the homeless (women, minorities, homosexuals) be despised and ridiculed in the home and us not expect those taught values to surface – often in horrific and violent forms? It isn’t an excuse, but just a call to make us examine the values of hate that are often conveyed to our children.