Letter: Searching for ways to prevent deadly violence

Tuesday, April 24, 2007 | 7:11 a.m.

In today's dangerous times, our youth are encouraged to selfishly solve their problems in the quickest, least painful manner without regard to the pain they inflict on others.

In earlier generations, youth "solved" their problems with fist fights and direct confrontation. Though this may not be the best manner of solving conflicts, at least pain inflicted on one person was pain felt (to a lesser extent) by the other combatant. Those who entered into fights knew that they would be locked in a struggle that more often than not would exhaust both sides (even if only verbally).

Guns are a mere crutch that enable the user to coldly and brashly make easy choices in seconds that society will have to deal with for decades. To deter our immature and inexperienced youth from resorting to this method to "solve" problems, we should impose an age limit on their purchase of perhaps 25 or older just as some companies often do when renting cars.

We should encourage our children to directly confront and talk about their problems, not hide behind guns, drugs, gangs and other nefarious losers offering a quick fix to their torments. These negative elements merely further insulate and isolate them from society.

We also need as a society to be more proactive when we encounter isolated, angry and lonely people such as Seung-Hui Cho and the Columbine massacre student perpetrators. Instead of castigating, shaming and ostracizing them, we should help them to adjust and cope to function successfully in society , where by definition, we must all compromise with one another to get along and survive.

Michael Pravica, Henderson