I suppose we've all done some dumb things as teenagers, but honestly, the daily news harvest NEVER used to include the breadth and depth of teen and young adult pathology that's now commonplace, such as random attacks on bicyclists in Portland, and the mugging of defenseless elderly men in the nation's capital.

The following stories are mostly from from today's news (a few items were reported yesterday or the day before). Please note these cases are NOT standard-issue gang retribution hits, gang territorial disputes, or - as so far is yet known - related to gang initiation rites. Even if some of these horrific crimes turn out to be classified as the latter, there are clearly other poisons in the water. So read, shudder, and re-ponder (munificently) moral values and parenting memes. While global, electoral and judicial prerogatives continue to loom large, the future of our Republic still also depends in no small part upon how our children are raised.

A 16-year-old San Jose boy is arrested for allegedly stabbing a 14-year-old girl after she refused to give him her phone number. He had reportedly been stalking her.

A 13-year-old in Nagasaki beat his 15-year-old brother to death in a fight over putting a video game console back in its box.

Sentencing hearings began this week in Daytona Beach for four teens convicted in the beating death of a homeless man. They face the possibility of life in prison, as well they should.

A 16-year-old male from Myrtle Beach will be tried as an adult for murder, in the beating death of a homeless man. A 14-year-old accomplice is already being detained in connection with the crime.

Two 15-year-olds and two 13-year-olds face charges of second-degree felony murder, second-degree manslaughter, robbery and gang assault after they grabbed and punched a 20-year-old NYU student in New York City, who broke free but then ran into the path of an oncoming car and was killed. One of the youths charged says he did it for fun, not money.

An ongoing feud over who had a better truck led to a fatal confrontation involving two teens and one of the vehicles in Lakeland, Florida.

A 16-year-old Baltimore youth expelled from a girl's birthday party returned to shoot her father dead, according to police.

An 18-year-old in Trinity County, Texas who had placed an alligator in a local pond and was caring for it, reportedly became angered at another man when an ongoing dispute over the animal flared up. The youth retrieved a Kalashnikov, located his intended target and began firing. A 50-year-old woman was killed instead, when one of the bullets came through the wall of a local bar.

A pair of 16-year-olds have been arrested for the beating death of a 90-year-old North Sacramento woman. One of them had reportedly done odd jobs for her, and helped plan a home invasion and robbery, in which the victim was fatally bludgeoned.

This is just a sampling of murder and mayhem reported to have allegedly occured at the hands of teen boys in the last few days. I cannot attempt to explain any of these tragedies. Nor should I. But I can make some more general observations which likely have bearing. Here goes, and flog me if you will. Inhibition has waned in contemporary culture, with the result that adults and youths are more apt to indulge gravely anti-social impulses. I suspect there is a connection between the erosion of everyday common courtesies, decency and civility on the one hand, and the increasingly absurd, groundless causes for violent behavior by adults and teens, on the other hand.

A super-ego is a good thing to have.

TECHNORATI TAGS: TEEN VIOLENCE, BOYS, SAN JOSE, NAGASAKI, DAYTONA BEACH, MYRTLE BEACH, NEW YORK, LAKELAND, FLORIDA, TRINITY COUNTY, TEXAS, SACRAMENTO, SUPER-EGO

Posted by Matt Rosenberg at April 18, 2006 06:43 PM

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