Now what word do you think is missing from the header? I suppose it is open to a lot of adjectives that could be inserted here, but the one that I am thinking about is…………….SHAME!!!!…………..yes, shame. Our society, like the header is sorely missing this very important element. That’s not so in many other societies around the world, but it certainly is here. Why is that so, where did it go, and when did it go? The fact that it is missing can hardly be disputed. Do you miss the effect that “shame” plays in a society? To me it seems that shame has been replaced with “bogus remorse”. How can you tell if someone is really sorry, or if they are saying so for dismissal of their offense, whatever that offense might have been, up to and including murder. The showing of remorse seems to be having a tremendous impact on the consequences of “bad actions” be they immoral, illegal, or both. “I’M SOOOOOOO SORRRRY!!!” seems to hold more weight than the law itself. If the situation is dealing with a 5 year old with his hands behind his back holding too many cookies, and his Mom just caught him, thats one thing. Mom says, “shame on you, I said no more cookies!” Her son hangs his head, shuffles his feet, sheds a tear, and feels the shame of not only being caught , but worse feeling the disappointment he created in his mother. Although his act is forgiven he will most likely be given some form of punishment for his actions…….. and so it should be. As he gets older and the infractions get a little more serious he will probably hear a, “wait till your Father gets home!!” How many kids have hated to hear those words? That brings yet more punishment and yes….. shame. Under most circumstances kids want their parents to be proud of them. They really want the parental approval that comes from following the boundaries set by the parents. These “set boundaries” really relieve a lot of pressure from kids, but it usually takes a few years before kids appreciate them. They don’t always stay within those boundaries and when they don’t, it brings them “SHAME”! Shame for what they did and for shame that was brought to their parents for their actions. I think that feeling is a tremendous motivator for improvement. Not all kids have this same kind of structure growing up so a lot of the shaping and guiding at home is missing. I am not going to go into the reasons, or causes, for the various life styles. Some are voluntary and some are others just trying to get by doing the best that they can. So let’s elevate this to a station above the parental control to the next level. What level is that?? It used to be the schools. Teachers used to provide structure and discipline along with the three “R’s”. If a student was disciplined for something in class (I got a pointer broken over my knuckles deservedly), and brought the news home along with the note the kids also brought some shame. Most of the time parents would stand with the teacher creating a seamless flow of authority. Parents would be a bit ashamed that they had to be called and again some punishment was in store. That is no longer the case. The next step was the civil authorities be it the city police, sheriff, or constable being called. Now we are talking about more serious bad behavior. Behavior that can be considered illegal, and bring with it punishment that is out of the parents control. At this point the amount of SHAME is increased dramatically because there are more people that feel the shame of the acts committed. After all won’t the parents, teachers, friends, clergy, scout leaders and anyone else involved in this persons life feel SOME SHAME???? One would think so, but alas, things have gone the other way. Parents not only don’t stop kids bad behavior at home they will defend it when the kids get to schools. By defending the bad behavior they are encouraging more! Having not only removed the shame from their actions, they have encouraged the escalation of it because it has brought the parents approval, just what every child wants. It is a downward spiral. It starts at home for various reasons. Not only have the schools been neutralized as far as discipline goes, the staffs are now subject to physical abuse from out of control kids. How many teachers are just counting the days to retirement? Proceeding from the classroom to the courtroom maybe we can find some “shame” there. Well what do you know! We have…. we have found some shame!!!! We just heard a Judge not only SAYING “SHAME”…… no….. they are repeating it over and over…….. louder and louder…..SHAME.. SHAME.. SHAME!!!!!!!!!!! That certainly brings us some hope until we realize that they are not yelling at the offender! No, the judge is yelling it at anyone that will not accept the offenders REMORSE!!! “What’s is wrong with you??? He said he was sorry.” The response of the parents is to jump up (this is the first time in 15 years the parents have shown up to one of their kids events and now it is because they may be able to bring a law suit against some authority), and say that you are just picking on my son because he is………………………… you wouldn’t do this if he were………………….! He really didn’t mean to rob those 42 people, drive drunk, kill that guy, (he only wanted to wound him) cuz he is really a good boy trying to turn his life around! If any of this sounds to you, like the way it is and you don’t like it either, what can we do? Lets try to stay focused on the root causes of this mess. We are fighting for what is right. Good vs Evil. That seems to be an ongoing struggle that is under assault on many fronts. Our education system has been under assault for decades. School boards have to be taken back. Bill Bennett said that conservatives made a big mistake long ago turning the education system over to the liberals, and I believe that wholeheartedly. We also have to pay attention to local judgeships come election time. Pay attention to their records. I guarantee they will pay attention to yours if you ever have to go into their court. Well elections are YOUR court! Hold them accountable for THEIR decisions. I think that the best thing that we can do to right our “wobbling ship”, (I do not think it is sinking), is to bring back a sense of shame to bad actions. Shame that is shared by anyone that had a hand in creating the problem. Be it kids or criminals, if “you do the crime you are going to do the time,” remorseful or not. Support the good. Dave of the Woods

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