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America the Violent: A Nation in Crisis |
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| Published on 2/18/2008 |
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| By Stephen Michael Apatow |
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Our national discussion has begun (Illinois Campus Shooting - PLEASE LISTEN NOW, 15 February 2008).
The article America the Violent: The School Shootings (The Rutherford Institute, 15 February 2008) outlines the cause of the challenges facing the United States: A Nation In Crisis:
We have lost our moral compass, and it’s destroying us as a country. The majority of Americans today, especially the younger generation, have no sense of what is right and wrong. Having traded our spiritual values for a bowl of materialistic porridge, we have failed to impart these meaningful moral lessons to our children.
In the context of my work arts, sports and Olympic development programs, I frequently reflect upon the statements made by some of our worlds top coaches regarding older teens who missed the fundamentals in training. The problems were so complex, the perplexity led to a conclusion that we had to start all over again and do it right with the early developmental levels. Fortunately we had the tools to restore the function of a 60's something to a level that surpasses their function in their teens, thus helping us in our reorganization of entire international development programs. What was considered impossible, prompting a call to write off a generation, proved possible with hard work and focused reorganization.
Dr. James P. Comer, professor of psychiatry at Yale University’s Child Study Center, suggests that in order to treat the damage done to the next generation, “We’re going to have to work at systematically recreating the critical elements of community that once existed naturally. We can’t go back to the past, but there was a time when people cared about each other and would look out for each other.”
Restoring the elements of community is a critical part of the process. However, we remain a society that is armed to the teeth. Our culture glorifies violence. Our government is especially guilty of using violence as a quick fix. Thus, if we are to reverse the tide of violence in America, the principles of nonviolence must also be taught—in our homes, churches, schools and communities.
Unless we want America’s future to be plagued by violence, we will have to commit to drastically altering the way we act, think and relate to one another.
First...... we need to recognize we are in a crisis. Next, we can begin our immediate, short term and long term strategic plans.
* The Eagle Will Rise (Artistopia)
May God help us regain our footing,
Stephen Michael Apatow
Founder, Humanitarian Resource Institute
MySpace Music: Stephen Michael Apatow
"Arts Integration into Education" promoting the arts as a vehicle for solution oriented strategic planning and development across the globe.
Note: The html enhanced release was posted on MySpace Music: www.myspace.com/apatow |
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| Article Credits and References |
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Credits and References
Humanitarian Resource Institute
www.humanitarian.net
Arts Integration in Education: Bridging the Gap
www.humanitarian.net/university/arts
MySpace Music: Humanitarian
www.myspace.com/apatow |
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