Watch Out For The Bad Kids Who May Not Appear So

A young man and his mother are dead. The killer, another young man that the son had befriended. The murderer declared that a, “Voice in [his] head told him to do it.”

A lot of times you are at home and afraid to venture out. And at night, you check every joint of the home to make sure that you and your family are sleeping in security. What about when the criminal is a friend? What about when the criminal is inside?

The murdered individuals here appear to be from a normal modern family environment. There is no mention of a father, but the mother is in her early fifties and a nurse at an area hospital, and her son is a twenty-year-old. These people were very likely having a-okay-life. Then there was this other young man who penetrated their home and sat at their dining table. One night, he shot both dead. He destroyed this seemingly normal life.

Watch who is coming to dinner. We are not supposed to be prejudiced. Yet, this makes you wonder what level of precautionary measures you must consider vis-à-vis people coming into your home. The young murderer proclaimed that voices in his head had caused him to act so cruelly. This is a very critical aspect to consider. Usually, we look at people in term of race, religion, social rank, and the like. Particularly, these days in our ghettos, we want to stay away from the young kids with ‘nasty’ dreaded hairs, dropped down pants, and those plated teeth. We usually think that they would mug us. Which, they often do.

The young man with this “devil” inside his brain that would tell him to kill his benefactors is usually overlooked. Such kids most often do not fit the profile of terror in their appearances. You would have to go inside their brains; which people often ignore even when the signals are clear. Then you end up with this kid killing his friend and his mother. And, you have the shootings in the schools, in the shopping malls, and in any place where there is a mass of people.

Such kids are often more menacing to most of us, since they often appear to be no threat, and we pay no attention. And, they most of the times inflict greater scale of damage. They are difficult and even almost impossible to discover beforehand. They are among us. They are often no different from us. Most of the times they possess no distinct characteristics like our kids in the ghettos. So, we intermingle with them, and go about our business - until they strike. It is at that point, and only then that we know we had such a danger lurking around. It is too late. The worst has already happened. The damage is already done.

What can we do? Watch out for the unusual signs. Normal kids usually conduct themselves as good young citizens. They listen and follow their parents, their teachers, and other positive figures, and do what is right. In addition, they would concentrate on productive, positive, and optimistic matters. Kids with problems are often not so mentally stable. They may not be so respective of their parents and their teachers; they may not be so productive; and, they may be occupied with issues of illusion. Our best bet is to watch out for signs of stability, when allowing certain kids in our homes.  

E.C. Granmoun is the author of "The Social Worker" ebook on amazon.com 
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