Don't overlook underlying causes of violence

After retiring early from corporate life, I was fortunate to teach for 16 years in the College of Business at NIU. I am also the proud dad of an outstanding elementary schoolteacher.

As I write this, it is my belief that we are merely in a lull … waiting for the inevitable occurrence of another mass murder in our schools. The only questions are "where," "when," and "how many" because we have failed to identify and address the underlying cause of our national nightmare.

Certainly, tighter control of the ownership of firearms and restrictions on the manufacturers of automatic and semi-automatic weapons makes sense. Also, prudent actions are being taken to strengthen on-campus security. However, the shootings are likely to continue until we solve the real problem.

The underlying cause of such deviant social behavior is a deterioration in the family and, therefore, in our societal values and norms.

Those of us who have lived for five or more decades grew up in a different America. There were no school shootings, divorce was uncommon and most families attended church. More than 33 percent of babies were not born out of wedlock and illegal drugs were not allowed to pour into the U.S. and infect our young people.

Finally, children did not grow up playing violent video games for hours, where points and awards are based upon the number of victims you have shot and killed … or destroyed in one violent way or another.

I believe the only effective way to stop school shootings is to address and solve, one by one, the underlying social issues that are the real cause. Otherwise, we will need an armed guard in every American classroom.

Russell Hagberg

Elgin