Violence in paradise

When a local kid is fatally stabbed by his peer group for refusing to follow orders, or a woman is found fatally shot and lying in a pool of blood at dawn, or car windows smashed for empty purses right in church parking lots or the number of theft and robbery consistently sustain double digits and increasing, it’s a tale that paradise may not be as safe as “as we know it”.

The emergence of heinous crimes to a new height is indeed very troubling. We ask ourselves helplessly what must have gone wrong. The answer, my friends, is in the confluence of violence from Hollywood’s films we absorb powerfully through television, videos and flicks to shifts in values when these isles became a mini-melting pot in the mid-eighties. Nothing will ever be the same in the traditional hospitality for which these isles are known for in years past.

The increase in crime is also indicative of the poor economic conditions in these isles which forced a substantial closure in businesses since two years ago. This phenomenon translates into less job opportunities for indigenous families seeking meaningful employment in either sector. The local job market isn’t as encouraging as it used to be. Fewer jobs are available where competition is vicious. It isn’t an encouraging phenomenon either. And as revenue plummets, so will the number of available jobs in both sectors.

Comparing fads then and now, ours was Beatlemania of boots, long hair, tight levi trousers and loose tuck-in shirts as teenagers head to weekend or school dances at Mt. Carmel. CK auditoriums or Hopwood. Our sins was smoking, a new fad among young boys to test their manhood, or for the more bold ones, marijuana. Then came heavier drugs like LSD accompanied by, well, Hey Jude. Fatal killing among young people then was unheard of. We had respect for the law and our elders.

Saipan had a single broadcast television station with, believe or not, one channel. And so you either settle for Ponderosa as the entire clan watches or some thirtyish romantic movie where you avoid looking at the screen when lovers embrace and kiss. And not when mom and dad are sitting there with the whole family. A` Saina!
It signs on at 3 p.m. and goes off the air at midnight. In between, you listen to KJQR for music and news from around the world.

Today, assorted violent and lude programs on television are served the entire community in buffet style. Kids basically have everything they need and don’t have to work or earn them through hard work. It’s there for the taking and we fuel their superficial needs with more stereo systems, fancy cars, Nintendo, and other modern fads. Admittedly, these assorted fads of modernity have also derailed parenting “as we used to know it”. They present mind-numbing challenges even for model families who work the clock fully focused on the education of their children and other constructive activities.

The increase in heinous and other serious offenses speak of difficult transitions in the livelihood and well-being of indigenous families. About the only answer (for starters) that we should collectively work on is in the spiritual development of our children. We may not succeed 100 percent, but we should be well on our way to bringing peace and harmony into families and the entire community down the first quarter of the next millennium. Let’s join hands for we need to unite and reinvent our sense of community, a forte of the indigenous people since time immemorial. Si Yuus Maase`!

Strictly a personal view. John S. DelRosario Jr. is publisher of Saipan Tribune