Deserve help early in life

Recently, I was driving with a friend of mine on our county road and we ran across a county work force repairing damage to a warning sign that would alert drivers of impending danger coming unto the main road from a side-road. The damage was obviously malicious in intent. It really irritated us in our belief that it was intended to create some problems for any cars that arrived there at the same time.

“What kind of people are these that would plan maliciousness so destructive and at the same, purposely endanger some other person’s life. Who destroys just for the kicks?” were some of the thoughts that poured out of me.

My friend thought for a bit and said, “All these kids aren’t just out to destroy for the kicks, a lot of them are angry. They let their anger strike out at the system that has kept them in a state of frustration most of their lives.”

It starts when they are young and in a dysfunctional family. They go to school with a chip on their shoulders and are immediately labeled “bad kids” and bad goes to worse. The lack of caring comes from a system which makes us so self-centered with our own problems that we can’t see what is happening to these kids. They are trying to warn us with this type of destructive behavior that they need a help that never comes.

We say we can’t afford this type of care that would have to be provided the day they enter school – it would be too costly. Yet, when they get older and their crimes become more objectionable, we can come up with the money it costs to try them and then keep them in prison. This doesn’t bother us, even though it would cost far less to care for them when they show us signs of their anger. We could even pay their way through college and be ahead of the game, by showing them that we do care.

When is this country going to wake up? If we do it right, we probably could even afford to give our wealthy their tax cut!

Snohomish