World News and Trends- Violent children: the hidden connection

He continues, in the introduction to his book "Arming America," published last year (page 4), "To find comparable levels of interpersonal violence, one must examine nations in the midst of civil wars or social chaos. In the United States of America in the 1990s, two million violent crimes and twenty-four thousand murders occurred on average every year. The weapon of choice in 70 percent of these murders was a gun, and thousands more are killed by firearms every year in accidents and suicides.

"In a typical week, more Americans are killed with guns than in all of Western Europe in a year ... In no other industrial nation do military surgeons train at an urban hospital to gain battlefield experience, as is the case at the Washington Hospital Center in the nation's capital."

Since colonial times Americans have had ready access to guns. But only recently have school shootings become a problem, with children killing children. Why this problem has suddenly arisen perplexes a nation increasingly worried about the safety of its young people.

Although the news and entertainment media saturate us with coverage of every such incident, a contributory factor in many of these situations has been conspicuously overlooked. It is to be found in the last book of the Old Testament.

"For the LORD God of Israel says that He hates divorce, for it covers one's garment with violence" (Malachi 2:16). This verse makes a connection between two societal trends: divorce and violence. Most of the perpetrators of school shootings have come from broken homes.

One of the latest was committed by a young boy who recently moved across the country after the breakdown of his parents' marriage. Traumatic changes like these in the lives of young people inevitably lead to anger, and anger unrestrained can lead to violence. Feelings of impotence and rage accompany the frustration of being trapped as victims in a situation they can do nothing about.

God created the family. The family unit is supposed to be based on love between a man and his wife. God intended the family to last until one or the other spouse died (Genesis 2:24; Matthew 19:3-9). Having created the institution of marriage, God instructed our first parents to be fruitful and multiply (Genesis 1:28). Children need parents, both parents, not just for the act of procreation but for the emotional support they require before they in turn are ready to leave home, marry and start their own families.

There have always been divorces, but the breakdown of the traditional family that has taken place in the last three decades since the introduction of "no-fault divorce" is without precedent in history. The social consequences of this trend include violence such as that we are witnessing in American schools. As families break down further, we can expect more violence. It is not mere coincidence that the majority of violent crimes are committed by young males from broken homes.