Focus on Nurturing Values in Kids Can Help Disarm Potential Killers
From the Bakersfield Californian Archive July 31, 2012
In the wake of yet another mass killing, a mystified society gropes for an explanation, and inevitably, the quick fix of gun control legislation once again enters the national consciousness. Our focus, however, is misdirected. Solutions are forthcoming when the underlying causative factors of senseless violence and maladaptive behaviors are pinpointed and extinguished. To accomplish this, one must revisit the critical, formative stages of early childhood encompassing birth to 5 years of age.
Developmental theorists postulate that a child’s personality has been established by the age of 5. The personality, arising from genetic predispositions and the social environment, is an influential factor throughout the varied stages of human development. Doubtless, the sweet innocence of a newborn elicits parental feelings of hope, promise and renewal for succeeding generations. Regardless of the sinless condition of mortal birth, humans are nonetheless subjected to the corrupting influences of the environment and inherited cognitive traits.
For most parents, it is unfathomable that their angelic child could grow up to be a Mengele, Stalin, Manson or McVeigh, but given the “right” amalgam of biological and social ingredients, the propensity for the crystallization of a deviant personality is heightened. As the sobering brutality of history and scientific research can attest, all humans are capable of repugnant, atrocious acts. When the conscience is dulled or rendered impotent, the individual, however, still retains the potently sublime power of choice. Individuals have the power to choose their attitudes, words and actions even in the most abject of circumstances. Although a difficult task, some children subjected to horrific abuse have overcome their debilitating family history through conscious positive choices.
Tempering the human tendency to exercise unrighteous judgment is the recognition that certain children, despite appropriate adult role modeling and nurturing, will choose to engage in lives of degradation and criminality. Therein lies the frighteningly, perplexing, dichotomous nature of human existence: adults impart what they know, and progeny are left to make choices good or bad.
As an early childhood educator, I have witnessed a growing number of children with anti-social and maladaptive behaviors. Affected children exhibited signs of post-traumatic stress disorder. A type of warfare was definitely raging in their subconscious minds and in the nucleus of their homes. The most alarming trait in these 4- and 5-year-old children was the total lack of empathy for others. The absence of empathy combined with extreme narcissism, barring psychiatric intervention, is a fertile ground for sociopathic proclivities in adulthood.
Our focus, therefore, should not be on guns but on the first and prime agent of socialization: the embattled family unit. If mothers and fathers, due to generational dysfunction, are not equipped to instill positive core values onto their children, then society, for the sake of self-preservation, must take measures to address the deficiencies. A comprehensive plan of action might consider implementing character-building curriculum in the elementary schools; mandatory parenting classes in high school; encouraging moral instruction in the home and in our places of worship; and more exposure to quality programming in media. Prioritizing funding for quality preschool education, and identification and referral of at-risk children and their families for professional counseling, are just a few of the options at our disposal if we are to curb the rising tide of dysfunction among our children.
Inaction raises the probability that the very public and disturbing manifestations of self-loathing and self-hatred will recur. Killers do not materialize overnight; they develop over time.
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Afterword: This Op-Ed article was originally published at The Bakersfield Californian newspaper, on July 31, 2012, in response to a mass shooting at a cinema in Aurora, Colorado. Since then, the mass killings have continued unabated. While the recent school shooting at Uvalde, Texas underscores the need for sensible gun legislation, family fragmentation and lack of moral instruction in the home is largely to blame for the gun violence and rampant criminality in the USA. A companion piece to this article addressing familial dysfunction and childhood maladaptive behaviors can be read at https://daisyb-penaloza1967.medium.com/how-not-to-raise-a-psychopath-seriously-e3b60a751c94
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