The Rembis Report And Other Fascinating Topics - Volume CXXXVIII

“Why can’t they be like were? Perfect in every way. What’s the matter with kids today?” - Kids, from the musical Bye Bye Birdie, Lee Adams, 1960

Don’t even get us started, Mike.

Okay, settle down.

Before we get into that subject, I would like to add just a bit more to what I have been writing about for the past six weeks.

Oh, no! Not that crazy talk about alternate timelines again!

Not exactly, so I will be brief.

This story caught my eye yesterday.

When I read it, I knew I was right. It is not just me who thinks that headlights are too bright. Lots of other people do, too. The reason this is top of mind for me today is because I could have sworn that I wrote an essay about this very subject. So, I thought it would make sense to post this headline as a follow up to that essay, and perhaps, make a few more smart remarks.

But, no. I can’t find it. I looked everywhere. I searched all of my hard drives for everything I have ever written on the subjects of driving at night and too-bright headlights, and I found nothing. But I remember writing it. Making notes. Composing a draft complete with links to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and other sources. But the essay is gone. Nowhere to be found, and obviously, unpublished.

But I remember writing it. So, my question is - Did I just think about it so much that I thought that I wrote it? Is that possible? Did I write it in my sleep, and not in waking life?

Did you write it in a parallel universe?

Exactly! Did I? And if that is the case, what other great stuff have I written over there that I don’t have access to here?

Great stuff? HA-

Alright! You know what I mean. Just another thing to think about. Something I can’t exactly explain. Like how kids get a hold of guns and shoot people.

Now, there’s something to think about. This week, senseless violence erupted at a Super Bowl celebration in Kansas City. The Chiefs brought home the trophy and about a million people showed up for their victors, to have a fun time, in a true sense of unity, and it was ruined by a couple of kids with guns. Twenty-four people were shot and one lady, Elizabeth “Lisa” Lopez-Galvan, a 43-year-old mother and deejay, died.

The investigation is ongoing, so more details will emerge later, but it appears to have been a personal dispute between teenagers that got out of hand. Kids of all ages, teens especially, will always find things to fight about. There is almost nothing to be done about that, except to raise better kids. One step in that direction would be to make it harder for kids to get guns in the first place. In a span of a minute or two, the ones firing did not hit each other, just those around them. Three suspects were taken into custody. One of them had a home-made sawed off rifle.

Parents are clearly to blame. I believe that. I don’t need more evidence. These kids were not raised right. Proper parenting would include firearms training, at the very least, if these kids were raised with guns. If not, they should have learned something about weaponry, the proper use of firearms, and been taught some level of common sense. Oh, yeah, and not had unsupervised access to guns. That would make sense, right?

This was the 48th mass shooting in the USA on the 45th day of the year. There were three more in the next three days.

However it all plays out, perhaps there will be a reckoning among parents about watching out for their kids, and knowing whether or not they are into guns. Because if parents don’t do a better job, this will keep happening.

Maybe it is time for family prison.

Michigan is just about there.

Ethan Crumbley killed four people with a gun given to him by his parents. His mom was convicted of involuntary manslaughter. She may be sentenced for up to 60 years. His dad goes to trial for the same thing next month. So, was it worth it to get this kid a gun? Guess not.

These two cases alone should make every parent reel with concern. Legislators, if any of them think at least a little like I do, should be considering family jail. Not just for a shooting, after the fact, when people have been harmed and killed, but just by the threat.

A 16-year-old kid was arrested last week. He was in possession of a gun, police say, that was used in a shooting, that he and friends were recorded passing around on a school bus last month.

Shooting or no shooting, no kid should be carrying a gun anywhere. Penalties for this range depending on circumstances, jurisdictions, and whatever laws are, or are not, broken. Every kid’s life starts at home, and parents should be monitoring them for weapons. Lots of times, a kid will will get pulled into the principal’s office, parents called, wrist slapped, and that’s it.

But that does not have to be the end of it. This is a golden opportunity to set an example for all parents. Start jailing them. In fact, for a simple infraction, just jail the whole family. That will teach them all a lesson they won’t soon forget.

That’s right. When a kid brings a gun to school, arrest him, then his parents, and his brothers and sisters, and put them all together in a state facility for a week. Not separated. All crammed into a cell with enough bunks for everyone. No TV. Just books and magazines. It will drive them crazy.

Sure, it will traumatize the siblings, and mom and dad might lose their jobs, not being able to work for a week, and may even face eviction if they can’t pay rent, but that’s the point. This is just the kind of thing that will make everyone see that kids should not be messing with guns. If this were the penalty, parents would be all over not letting kids get guns.

Nobody wants to go jail at all, let alone for something their kid does, and when the whole family is on the line? Parents will clean up their act and get guns away from kids. No doubt.

So, that’s just something to think about.

A lot of blame goes around for why a kid wants to shoot somebody. No matter who the target is, somebody can find a way to blame something other than the parents for the shooters behavior. We have been doing this for years.

Read the lyrics for Gee, Officer Krupke from West Side Story.

It is amusing, but also serves as an excellent example, and answers the question asked at the outset; What’s the matter with kids today?

It is the parents.

They need to be better.

Thanks for reading.

If you are new to the Rembis Report and would like to read any of the previous issues, PLEASE CLICK HERE to access the archives. To read it from the beginning, PLEASE GET A COPY of The Rembis Report: An Observation.

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