YOUNG PEOPLE ASK . . .What's Wrong With Getting Even?

"He insulted me." -Conneel, aged 15, in prison for murder.

Andrew, aged 14, who killed a teacher at a school dance, claimed to hate teachers and his parents and to be angry with girls for rejecting him.

TIME magazine calls it "a deadly pattern."  An angry youth smuggles a lethal weapon into his school and opens fire on his schoolmates and teachers.  Such tragic accidents have begun to seem so common in the United States that one TV news network described the trend as "an explosion of violence."

Fortunately, school shootings are still relatively rare. Even so, the recent crimes of rage reveal just how angry some youths really are. What seems to trigger such outbursts? Some of these youths were evidently enraged at injustice or abuse of power that they experienced at the hands of people in authority. Others were evidently angered by ongoing teasing from their peers.  One 12-year-old boy who shot a classmate-and then himself-had been teased about being overweight. 

Admittedly, most youths would probably never think seriously of engaging in such extreme violence. Still, fighting the feelings of hurt and pain that arise when you are a victim  of racism, bullying, or cruel teasing is not easy.  Reflecting back on his school days, Ben says:  "I was always shorter than most of the kids my age. And because my head was clean-shaven, other kids were constantly teasing me and slapping me on my head.  This made me very angry. what made matters worse is that when I went to get help from people in authority, they ignored me. That made me even angrier!"  Ben adds:  "The only thing that kept me from getting a gun  and shooting these people was the fact that I had no access to one." 

How should you view youths who seek to hurt those who have hurt them?  And what should you do if you become the victim of mistreatment yourself?  In answer, consider what God's Word has to say.

Next time: YOUNG PEOPLE ASK . . .What's Wrong With Getting Even? 

From the Awake! magazine