Love And Respect

Fourteen-year-old shot his sixteen-year-old brother to death and then killed himself.

Most of us must remember how we loved our siblings when we were growing up. A few may have had a little different experience. But, when you hear such news as a child murdered his brother “over sharing clothes,” you wonder how bad some others must have had it. Children always have their little quarrels in their home environments. Parents are always there likewise to correct and set things back on course.  How could it get so bad for a child to kill his brother and himself?

When you look at the photo of the little boy killer, he appears so nice and innocent, with a broad smile and his teeth grinned, that you could count them, except for a couple of missing ones. He must have had that picture from a few years earlier, in church shirt, tie, and a graduation cap that makes him look like a boy scout. You have to love him, in the picture; you may even wish that he could have been your own little boy. If you did not know, you would have never imagined that a killer lived inside him.

 

He killed his brother “over sharing clothes.” They must have been poor. Perhaps the family did not have enough for each boy to have his own sets of clothing. It is sad. Poverty would do that. But, the big question remains. How a little fourteen-year-old has arrived to muster so much anger and gain possession of a firearm to commit this sordid deed? 

The Bible exhorts us to raise the children in the right path.

Most of us consider our children precious. We love them; we take care of them; and we teach them to do the same to others. That is how most of us have arrived to live in mutual respect with each other and keep our society in check. This young man obviously did not learn how to love, to respect, to share, and to live together. He killed his brother over clothes and then killed himself. Many of us must remember when we had such bad days that even led into physical fights with our siblings. We kicked; we punched; we bit; we screamed; but, we never had the intention to cause permanent damage. The anger of this little boy became so bad he developed a desire to kill. Yet, the worst about it, he gained access to fire power!

Many children in our ghettos these days are little bandits. Being poor, raise by parents with little or no education, and shut out from the better prospect of life, they resort to anger and violence. They are walking around, as you may say, like little adults. They are tough, mean, and ready to cause trouble. Their home environments are conflict zones. Nobody has control. Some are literally war zones. No wonder that a fourteen-year-old could acquire a gun and destroy himself and his brother. It is sad. It could have turned out very differently away from the grips of poverty with more educated and better informed parents. And, the gun? Anybody could always get one for evil intent – even a fourteen-year-old.

If this young man did not have a gun, it is certain the damage would have been far less. I guess. We could simply apply more efforts to show the kids love, respect, and limitation to fire power. 

By E.C. GRANMOUN
E.C. Granmoun is the author of "The Social Worker" ebook on amazon.com
Join E.C. Granmoun on Facebook and Twitter  

How Much Does The Life Of A Child Worth To DCF?

Few weeks ago, the Miami Herald ran a one-month investigative report on the Florida Department of Children and Families entitled “Innocent Lost.” It covered the painful story of 477 children who died of abuse or neglect after having been subjected to DCF’s inquiry.

The death of yet another child is just an addition. It came just two months after the child welfare department was alerted that the child, nine-month-old Carter James Turcany, was in danger. Apparently, the organization did nothing much to safeguard him. On April 24, Sheriff Deputies arrived to the home that the child shared with his mother Marcia Ann Hake to find him dead. According to police, he was possibly “accidentally smothered while asleep on the couch” in an unsafe sleeping arrangement.

This was not to be unexpected. DCF had recently received two reports that the child and his two siblings were in jeopardy by their mother’s abusing of drugs. One DCF report noted. “The crib is stacked with clothing and other articles…There are concerns on how safe or comfortable the baby was in the home.” Another report in March denoted that the mother was using her money to purchase non-prescription pills and other drugs and did not buy foods for the children. And, an earlier report claimed. “…Hake was not supervising her children, who were seen running around the neighborhood, and she was stumbling from apparent drug use. Hake’s children…were always hungry.”

How much does the life of a child worth to DCF? We must force ourselves to answer as to the role of the organization. The website of the Florida Department of Children and Families provides the following statement: "The mission of the Department of Children and Families is to Protect the Vulnerable, Promote Strong and Economically Self-Sufficient Families, and Advance Personal and Family Recovery and Resiliency." This sounds noble. Yet, you have to wonder whether the words are not generally empty.

When considering the traumatic circumstance enveloping the life of nine-year-old Carter James Turcany, it is obvious that he was a vulnerable child in urgent need of protection. DCF did not provide it. The family was in disarray: The mother was abusing drugs; the children were not supervised; the home was not maintained; there was no food in the house for the children; and the sleeping arrangements were obviously precarious. According to the police, the child likely died due to such a bad sleeping arrangement.

DCF was aware of the whole dangerous situation. Not only that several recent reports, one as recent as March, were done with the organization, the Miami Herald noted family members as stating that the mother “had a long history with the state Department of Children and Families.” We could fairly translate in this case that the organization has been doing a very poor job. In the case of the little boy Carter James Turcany, DCF simply left him there to die. They received reports; they investigated; and they turned a blind eye leaving the child languishing in the shadow of the malfunctioned system until on April 24, 2014, he was discovered without life. His life obviously was worth not much to DCF.

By E.C. GRANMOUN
E.C. Granmoun is the author of "The Social Worker" ebook on amazon.com
Join E.C. Granmoun on Facebook and Twitter