My goodness! Letter after letter all castigating you and your photographer for the picture of the murder on Oak Street. Truly, you have shocked members of our dear peaceful community to their cores.
But I wonder...
I dare say that any 14-year-old has seen enough murder and mayhem on television to satisfy a large amount of blood lust. Any gamer has killed and mutilated thousands, if not more, in the pursuit of winning one of the computer or other games.
That says little of death - often gruesome - by vampire or the illustrated means of death that lurks in so many comics of "illustrated books." To assume that the young residents of Prince George are innocents in the viewing of death is rather nave.
Still, the deaths in other media are not as immediate. They lack a certain connection and remain some distance away. Even the violence of "Scarface," as brutal as one can get, is easily available to the younger set, as a movie or a game - and the local video outlets tell me it is very popular amongst the young.
Yes, no doubt the family and friends may have been upset at the picture which appeared on page one. But really, do we not need to show - candidly and cruelly - what crime, drugs and gangs are doing to our city? Not at a distance, not sanitized, but right up close and personal. This, young residents, is where a life of crime may lead you. It is not pretty, it is not nice, and it is not like the movies.
This young man, who some of you knew, is dead. His life is ended. Now, to be fair, while we know the victim was known to police, there is thus far no direct connection with either drugs or gangs. Crime need not be linked to either.
There is enough glorification of youth crime in our city. Even the police reports daily are used to brag, not to suggest that the guilty were doing something wrong.
While the photo was all those things that others said it was, it was also necessary. I applaud The Citizen for printing the photo - yes, on page one.
Crime is ugly. It has scarred our city and ruined neighbourhoods. It should not be cleaned up for public viewing. It must be shown in all its ugliness...
Such is the way of education, of learning.
Willow Arune
Prince George
