Marylee Shrider: Duck beating horrible, but youths' cruelty is tragic
| Friday, Jul 04 2008 07:36 PM
Last Updated Friday, Mar 27 2009 06:18 PM
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Lyle the duckling that survived an attack by four teenagers swims in Lisa Andrew's bathroom sink. Lisa is Shannon Andrew's mother. The mother duck died, as did six of her seven ducklings. Lyle, the lone survivor, also swims in the family pool and gets the attention of the family dog that has been able to control his natural instinct.
Lisa Andrew holds a duckling she and her family are helping raise after the mother duck was killed. Lisa is Shannon Andrew's mother.
Lyle the duck bottoms out as it swims in a few inches of water in Lisa Andrew's bathroom sink.
If we measure our collective health by the way we treat the least of those among us, then Bakersfield is looking pretty peaked these days.
Not since 9/11 have I so dreaded reading the news, so inconceivable are recent crimes and those suspected of committing them.
We all know the stories by now.
Three young boys are found naked in a trailer; a neighbor stands accused of molesting them.
A former high school football coach is arrested on charges of possessing child pornography.
Most tragic of all, an elderly man is savagely beaten to death as he goes about his morning routine of collecting aluminum cans. In a shocking turn, five teenage boys, some as young as 13, are suspects in the attack.
These are only the most recent stories to make headlines, which brings me to one that won't, but should.
One evening two weeks ago, 22-year-old Shannon Andrew and her 2-year-old daughter were in the driveway of her parents' Fairway Drive home, when a SUV load of men, each in his late teens or early 20s, suddenly stopped in front of the house.
Unnerved by their staring, Andrew scooped up her toddler and hurried inside. As it turns out, it wasn't Andrew they were staring at.
Peering into the fading light, Andrew could see and hear the young men as they leapt laughing from the car and began to “kick something up and down the street.” Later, after they tired of their sport and left, Andrew went to find what that something was. It wasn't until another car passed by, stirring up a cloud of feathers, that she spotted the still form lying on the street.
The duck was still alive, but barely, her head bloodied, a dead duckling by her side. Andrew gently placed the duck on a towel as neighbors tried to round up surviving ducklings. They found only one. When the mother heard her duckling's cries she tried to rally and rise, but her body was too broken. She died about 10 minutes later.
“They had tortured her,” says Andrew. “It was so sad, I just wanted to cry.”
It's a happy ending for the duckling which, for now, has found a caring home with Andrew and her family. A more grave issue — one greater than the economy, the presidential election or the price of gas — is the sadism and cruelty of youths who torture animals and beat our elderly to death.
Why? Why do they do it?
Because they're angry. And getting angrier.
Dr. Dean Haddock, a Bakersfield psychologist, says repeated exposure to violence, family breakdown, violent video games and films and the lack of religious education have conspired to create a frightening and growing population of calloused children and teens.
“It's an aftermath of the 60s,” Haddock says. “I haven't lost hope yet, but people have to realize what a problem this is.”
It's not that teens are committing more crimes. According to the FBI and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, violent crime among young people has dropped significantly in recent years. It's just that our criminals are getting younger, their crimes more cruel. And it's not just boys, either. Girls are jumping into the fray, too.
It's time, Haddock says, for a “come to Jesus meeting.”
He's right. It's time to get serious about teen and youth violence, about combating it with every resource we have, before it's too late.
If it isn't already.
Opinions expressed in this column are those of Marylee Shrider, not The Californian. Her column appears Saturdays. Reach her at mshrider@bakersfield.com.or 395-7474.
