Kids Killing Kids--American Youth Struggle with Real Evil

Murdered....because her friends "didn't like her anymore."

Last night I watched an investigative report on Dateline that revealed the shocking murder of 16-year-old Skylar Neese two years ago in a small West Virginia town. Violence and murder are nothing new in America, but it was the "how" and "why" of this brutal story that troubled me.

Her two best friends, Rachel and Shelia, decided they just "didn't like" Skylar anymore and plotted to kill her. With the unsuspecting Skylar in the car, Shelia drove to a secluded wooded area one July night, and the three girls got out of the car. As pre-planned, "on the count of three," the two teens pulled out knives and began ruthlessly stabbing their best friend. Police later learned that Skylar tried to defend herself and could only scream "Why?" They covered her body with leaves and sticks, and for the next eight months, Shelia and Rachel went about their teenage lives with no remorse for what they had done. The case was eventually solved, and both girls were convicted of the murder last year.

Have today's young people become so desensitized to violence and murder, that they could commit such a violent act without shame or guilt? Then, I recalled another news story I saw recently.

Last August in Oklahoma, three teenage boys were charged with first degree murder after gunning down an innocent man just walking down the street. In a detailed confession to police, one of the teens said this: "We were bored and didn't have anything to do, so we decided to kill somebody."

One-in-three children in America are being raised without a father. We now live in an era where 40 to 50 percent of all marriages end in divorce, and 45 percent of girls who get pregnant, never marry. Without the structure and supervision of a two-parent family, it's not surprising that we see more and more teens acting out in shocking ways.

We now have young people using their phones to record fist fights of both boys and girls, sometimes being encouraged on by a misguided parent, and then posting the videos on You Tube.

We now have "flash mobs" of teenagers invading businesses in large numbers, stealing merchandise, and then fleeing before police can arrive. They communicate via Twitter, texts, and Facebook, to plot these robberies.

This past year, the "knockout game" has received national attention after the news media began showing videos of these acts from local surveillance cameras. The "knockout game" is where one or more persons will select an innocent, unsuspecting person walking down the street, then run up and sucker punch them in the face, in an attempt to knock them unconscious--all for their own personal entertainment. You can find these stories on the web.

It's not uncommon in today's America to see teens committing suicide because of bullying by their peers, and verbal attacks against them on Face Book and other social media sites.

And there's no age limit when it comes to outrageous behavior in today's culture.

Just last week, three boys--two eight-year-olds and one nine-year-old boy--were caught smoking marijuana in the boys' bathroom of their Sonora, California elementary school. The youngsters told police they got the pot and pipe from "several different sources."

Recently in Pueblo, Colorado, two girls--a 10-year-old and 11-year-old--were caught by school authorities with marijuana in their possession on school grounds. The girls said they brought it from home because they thought it was "cool and legal." Colorado and Washington have both legalized recreational marijuana in their states.

America's youth may have easy access to drugs, but their movie and music idols--the Justin Beiber's and Lindsay Lohan's of the world--only make it more glamorous.

Unfortunately, teens also see news stories such as the following:

In Fallsburg, N.Y., on "two separate occasions", drug paraphernalia and heroin were found in the faculty lounge at Benjamin Cosor Elementary School. A police investigation showed there were eight teachers involved, but the police could not force the teachers to submit to a urine test, because the teachers union forbids drug testing. These heroin users are still teaching in the elementary school without punishment or accountability.

Granted, a majority of young people don't give in to the temptations that confront them on a daily basis, but it's troubling to see what is happening in America.

I don't profess to have the answers, but the collapse of the two-parent family, the lack of a religious or moral foundation, and the loss of compassion for our fellow citizens, has led to a nation that has become desensitized to criminal and immoral behavior.

Whatever your religious preference may be--no matter who your God is--we all need to pray for our youth, our nation and our world.