Addressing Violence by Males with Mentoring, More

The Golden Rule to treat others as one wants to be treated is a common thread in Jewish, Christian and Muslim faith traditions, among others.

It is.

Really.

And, with Summer giving way to September and the Fall season, one wonders about whether gunfire will ring out in schoolyards again, too?

God no, we hope and pray.

It would be gratifying to lift up the dignity and worth of all with the Golden Rule of respect if no more balloons and bows of yellow, green and red are needed to mark the sites of shootings by school bullies.

Mind you, it isn't little girls who are doing the gunning.  Females tend to do a better job of bonding with young girls.  They admit pain more readily.  The feminine expresses feeling more fully than guys, it seems to me.

More study about this predicament will help save a society and the soul of this nation.

Could this trend of growing violence by boys be about a quest of meaning and purpose nurtured while lads are young and formative?

I think so.

Youngsters need to be initiated early in life, let alone introduced to the predicaments, mysteries, even miseries of life by their father.

They need to be taught as nowhere else that they are not the center of the world; that pain is real, life is hard; you win some and lose some; you are not in control, you may be passed over at school, at work, by the coach, or, the teacher; one day you will die; and, you life is about something or someone bigger than you -- the young male will not know how to manage pain, loss, alienation and rejection or abandonment.

And, if he cannot deal with his pain, he will abuse power.

He will.

Lads listening to and looking into the eyes of their fathers may help. 

That may change the order of violence that seems more common than blowing one's nose these days.

Initiation and introduction into the mysteries of life can help lessen the violence of schoolyard bullies, and more.

It can.

Fathers, even grandfathers and sons checking into a hotel for a weekend together, or, a hike in the woods together to hear about life's struggles and the realities of the trek through life's limitations and boundaries, including pain, suffering, difficulties and death, may best help male mentoring and bonding for boys who may become bullies otherwise.

Guns and gangs don't have to win.

They don't.

Men and fathers need to mentor and mold their sons.