The Elephant reaches out to Pia Durkin.

Shortly after noon yesterday I sent the following e-mail to Pia Durkin and courtesy copied the mayor, each of the school committee members except one (His e-mail wasn't published.), and a few folks at the MTA.  I even typed slowly because I know she has a Ph.D.

Dear Dr. Durkin,

 

On September 22, 1997 I sent a short letter to then President Bill Clinton that included the following warning:

 

"Your pro-child stance is commendable, but it is meaningless to a child who cannot ride the school bus or visit the bathroom without receiving a legal, adult sanctioned beating.  Such a child, upon reaching early adulthood, has little reason to place any faith in social institutions or any value on human life.  Is this a problem worth solving?"

 

I've been doing this a long time and I'm truly impressed by the tenacity with which people cling to dangerously outdated forms of behavior.  Specifically, people tend to place violent, aggressive males on a pedestal while treating their victims like unwanted party crashers.  Then they feign bewilderment when one of those victims stages a media worthy act of revenge.  This sort of behavior may have helped our distant ancestors survive in the wild.  It has no place in a modern industrial society.  Failing to deter violent behavior and then treating victims as if they were the source of the problem is not harmless.  As you can read in my latest weblog post this behavior produces killers who are willing to sacrifice their own lives in order to take revenge.

 

In your opinion, what kind of tragedy, or series of tragedies would be required to convince Americans that this is "a problem worth solving?"  How many Oklahoma City's, Columbines, and Newtowns will have to be precipitated by the widespread tendency to punish victims in order to inspire real change?

 

Sincerely yours,

 

The Elephant

http://theelephantsnewclothes.blogspot.com/

She probably finished her vegetables and prepared to pretend this never happened.  Or she may be conjuring up a bizarre reason to blame Joanne Maura for what happened yesterday in Pennsylvania.  In any case I'm putting together a very long list of newspapers, magazines, and other media outlets to send this along to.

And always remember the Golden Rule of Denial.

Ssssshhhh...  The Elephant isn't really here.