Family Violence On The Rise

I am an avid reader of the newspaper and I admit to watching CNN and the news religiously. I guess I am a news junkie. I want to know everything that's going on and I want to know it now. There, I've said it. Since I have no wish to remedy my addiction, I subject myself to all the news -- good and bad. This can be a negative, since much of the news recently has been more negative than positive. It seems with money problems come psychological problems. With the economy tanking and jobs disappearing more and more people are turning violent or going on rampages. Just in this morning's paper -- one day -- there were multiple articles about familial violence. The report of a murder-suicide in California in which 6 family members were killed saddened me. Three small children were killed along with the adults in the family. One woman shot multiple times was able to escape and tell authorities what happened. The killer was a 40 year old man who shot his entire family before taking his own life. In another rampage, a man who was angry over his divorce went on a shooting spree in a North Carolina nursing home, killing residents and nurses. He was looking for his estranged wife who worked there. She managed to escape the planned attack. In Boston, a young man viciously took the life of his younger sisters, aged 17 and 5, with a kitchen knife. His 9 year old sister survived the attack with multiple stab wounds and has been hospitalized. In another case in Baltimore, a young woman admitted to starving her 1 year old to death because he refused to say "Amen" after his last meal. Amazingly, this was all on one page of the paper. I could go on.

It's quite disturbing to realize that families are destroying themselves. Violence seems to be the norm, rather than the exception to the rule. We all wonder, "What were they thinking?" or "What made them snap?", and then life goes on and we do nothing and the violence grows. People are obviously feeling helpless, alone, hopeless, and without faith. If you know anyone who is experiencing difficulties because of these tough economic times -- a job loss or a mortgage issue, let them know you care and that there is hope for recovery. During the Great Depression, stock brokers jumped from buildings in New York. Those were tough times too, but they didn't take their families with them. Now it seems that people are so alone that they don't want to die alone -- so they take their families with them. Everyone has a breaking point and it seems that many more people are reaching that point. Perhaps we need to pay better attention to who is suffering and try to lend a hand or an ear. A small effort to reach out is infinitely better than the regret that would come from thinking "What if..?". These families are our next door neighbors, our friends, and our co-workers. Our world has become a scary place when the safety and security of family is gone. I hope we can all make a difference, even for just one family.