Violent Crime: Everybody's Business

I wish I could start this column with Charles Dickens's: "It was the best of times. It was the worst of times," but unfortunately I can't. It seems like the worst of times are upon us. And until we get off our behinds and actively participate, we will forever look back and relish the good old days when we could have roamed the streets at anytime.

On Monday June 4^th, the FBI released statistics on violent crimes in the US. According to the report, murder rates in big cities rose sharply in 2006.In addition, violent crime increased nationally for the second time in a row. I dreaded the headlines on Tuesday, for you see, it was the day that Paris Hilton was to begin her sentence.

The media's negligence in failing to give prominence to such pivotal and disconcerting crime information is heart wrenching. How can we sit and muse over whether prison will change Paris and blatantly ignore the fact that murder rose in eight of the nation's 10 largest cities?

A few weeks ago, Thomas Keown wrote a brilliant article entitled: "Violent teens aren't 'just bad'." In his article Keown was quoted as saying: "Whether we care about these kids or not, it is our economic problem, our public safety problem and our compassion problem."

The media's coverage of Paris Hilton's prison sentence made it seem as though the betterment of our society depended on what America's heiress will eat behind bars. Don't get me wrong. I do indulge in salacious details about celebrities. However, there is a time and place for everything.

How long will we sit back and allow the media to present us with stories of no consequence? Violent crime is back and the good news is that unlike untreatable diseases, we each have the power to drastically reduce that number. Let us do something before about it now before it is too late.

So the next time you turn down an opportunity to mentor a child, the next time you decide that crime is society's problem, think about the future of your kids. Think about your life in 5, 7 or even 10 years if crime rates continue to rise. Crime is everybody's business.