Our violent society - Make them pay the price

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

IT is a recurring theme of social commentary that society is becoming ever more violent.

Diarists of the 17th century felt, even then, that a Rubicon had been crossed and that society would not last much longer in the face of gratuitous violence, physical or verbal.

A lot of that commentary was based on fear and misunderstanding but today we would be foolish to discount such claims without recognising that there are at least some questions to be answered.

Indeed, any society where a boy of 15 will threaten a man involved in a pub row with his father with a handgun needs to ask itself serious questions. Any society where an under-16 football match has to be abandoned because brawling broke out after a player had his nose broken by an adult spectator has questions to answer.

There is a considerable difference between becoming more violent and more easily accepting violence as an everyday part of life. Just ask any group of teachers about the impact uncontrollable and violent pupils can have on their ability to teach willing students and you might be convinced that we too easily accept violence as an unwelcome intrusion in our lives.

We should not and must not. We must ensure that those who casually resort to violence know their actions will have consequences.

This story appeared in the printed version of the Irish Examiner Tuesday, November 17, 2009