Restraint for the Sake of Safety?

I am particularly disturbed by recent events in my community. After a
drive by shooting that left 3 teens dead a demonstration march was
held by 100 or so of their fellow classmates. The march itself seems
appropriate until the regional paper reports that open bottles of
liquor & joints were being passed around while police observed.

So not only was this taking place in public but, it was underage, the
police were watching, & the paper reported it all. Let that sink in.
Wow, right?

We were recently named an All American City, a prestigious award that
exemplifies the kind of community we are despite these acts of
violence.

I can live with the fact that those who feel above the law are going
to commit crimes on our community & we can only do so much about it. I
cannot accept that for fear of inciting a riot or something else we
chose to condone inappropriate behavior by our youth.

What kind of message are we sending? Well we are telling our youth
that because we are afraid of them we will not take the proper actions
to protect them.

No wonder they are attracted to being wannabe or actual gang members!
A gang for all it's issues has a pretty straight forward breakdown of
power & control over it's members. If a gang is making our kids think
that they have a better chance at structure, boundaries & connections
than they can get from the community at large - then well we have
failed them.

Until we accept the consequences & step up to take real action we will
continue to see unnecessary violence.