Tragically, this snapshot of high school culture is far too typical of the American youth mindset. The same disregard for God-given life and morality is shown through violent and bloody videos, computer games, and a lot of youth culture music today.

Numerous studies reveal the same disregard for life: “More than 360,000 unmarried teenage girls give birth each year. Four in 10 teenage births end in abortion. Sixty-one percent of minors who have abortions do so with their parent’s knowledge. Forty-six percent of eighth grade students report they have gotten drunk. By the twelfth grade this rate is up to sixty-three percent. Juvenile murder arrests have increased 150 percent since 1985. The third highest cause of teen death is suicide.”

Despite metal detectors in some schools and zero tolerance for weapons and drugs at school, shootings and killings continue. Much of the violence has come from young boys full of anger and bitterness. Many were considered loners and outcasts. Many were rejected, ridiculed, picked on, or ignored by their peers. When the culture devalues life and the fringe media glorifies murder and mayhem through music and movies, there is no self-control, self-esteem, or moral code left to stem the rising tide of anger and contempt for life. Violence erupts.

Frank Peretti, in his latest novel Hangman’s Curse, addresses this theme of violence in school. I would encourage you to get a copy of this edge-of-your-seat book and then pass it on to a teacher or school administrator. Allow me to share a portion: “A truth our society must not lose sight of, and that is the sanctity of every human life and the dignity of every individual. Increasingly, in a world that seeks to establish its own knowledge and values without God, we find our concept of humanity – real, genuine, human humanity – falling through the cracks. If, as our children are so often taught, we are nothing but a cosmic accident that arose for no reason out of primordial slime, and the stronger among us are necessarily the better among us, then where does love fit in, or kindness to those in need or simply going out of our way to lend a hand to a fellow human being. Where will we find heroes who are willing to risk their comfort and safety, even their very lives for those who are weaker than they? How do we know there is such a thing as human dignity, or even the simple right to walk through a school hallway without being shoved, beaten, teased, or harassed?

“Metal detectors may keep weapons out of schools, and security officers can maintain at least a surface tranquility, but these will not keep out the pain, anger, and loneliness that cause a child to bring a weapon to school in the first place. Unless our children are regularly and emphatically taught respect for themselves and one another. . . We are all made in the image of God and are each precious in His sight, regardless of how we look, or what we can do. . .”

Some might conclude that God has left the younger generation without hope. But God is raising up a generation of young people with hearts after His own - young people who want to make a difference in the world and in their generation.

When a fourteen-year-old gunman opened fire on fellow students at a prayer meeting in Paducah, Kentucky. Ben Strong, a young man of valor was there. Ben led an early-morning prayer meeting every day at Heath High School. As gunfire ensued, he stood between the shooter and more potential victims. Weeks before, he had cultivated a friendship with the troubled young man. That friendship convinced the boy to trust Strong in the moment of crisis, and he laid the gun down.

Young people need someone to care – a friend, a teacher, a parent, or a neighbor. Clifton L. Taulbert, author of several books such as Once Upon A Time When We Were Colored and nominated for a Pulitzer Prize, shared that “habits of the heart” modeled by members of his community and church helped shape his life. Perhaps we could reach out to troubled youth with “habits of the heart” such as: a nurturing attitude, dependability, responsibility, friendship, brotherhood, high expectations, courage, and hope for a better tomorrow.

What is the ultimate solution to violence in the schools and in society? The real answer is changed hearts. Jesus said, “For out of the heart proceeds evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies” (Matthew 15:19).
Jesus Christ came to die for our sins, to give us new hearts and hope for today and for tomorrow. “Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature; old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new” (II Corinthians 5:17).

No one understands like Jesus. Call on Him today in faith and repentance (Joel 2:32).