Pubdate: Sun, 02 Sep 2001 Source: News-Times, The (CT) Copyright: 2001 The News-Times Contact: http://www.newstimes.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/637 Author: Mark Schibanoff DISAGREES WITH WRITER OVER CAUSES OF VIOLENCE Frank DePaul's comments in his Aug. 26 Community Forum were probably the most bizarre I've read in this paper. Discussing school violence, he blithely dismisses the violence our children see in the media and asks if there is a more deeply rooted cause. Unbelievably, he suggests the cause may be high school seniors seeing two unnamed invasions by our military and the war on drugs. If the first so-called invasion was the Granada mission, I regret to inform Mr. DePaul that a senior today would not have been born by then. If he means Panama, a senior would have been 5 years old! The only invasion in the Gulf War was by Iraq, so that can't be one of them. If we really want to identify root causes, it might be helpful to remember that we didn't have these problems back in the '50s and '60s before gun control, when a first gun was a rite of passage for many American boys - boys who saw the Vietnam War on the TV nightly, without blowing away classmates. Mr. DePaul may casually dismiss the media as a factor, but how can he dismiss: A welfare state that actually rewarded fatherless families. Taxes that force both parents to work, with kids raised by rented moms with no emotional investment. Liberal politicians who wage class warfare, whereby an achiever is the enemy and everyone else is a victim. The liberal mantra of "if it feels good, do it," requiring no personal responsibility, as exemplified by the liberals choosing power over principle when the past president committed perjury on TV. The liberal view that drug addiction is at best a personal choice and at worse a disease. It might make Mr. DePaul feel better by blaming his personal bogeymen for school violence, but in a legitimate debate his ideas are intellectually bankrupt. Mark Schibanoff DANBURY - --- MAP posted-by: Keith Brilhart