Six Flags Fright Fest Aptly Named

Six Flags Fright Fest Aptly NamedSix Flags will never be the same. 9 teenagers violently beat a couple in their 50’s and their 12 year old son. The teens cut into line and were cursing. When the parents asked the teens to stop cursing, they sucker punched their 12 year old son. When the parents tried to intervene, they were beaten severely by the gang of kids. All 3 of them ended up in the hospital.

Wow. What is going on in our society? How does something like this take place? How is it that these kids have come to the point that they think this is cool, fun, or OK on any level to beat someone senseless? Where is their conscience? Where is their remorse?

I am angry about it, but I am also grieving. Where are the parents of these kids? Where was the security at Six Flags? Why is there such a blatant disregard for human life these days? Why are so many people filled with rage and ready to unleash at the slightest provocation?

Evil has no reason, no conscience, and no regrets. Evil takes. It never gives. Evil seduces people into thinking that there will be no consequences. Unfortunately, those who are seduced will have a severe wake up call. They will either end up in prison or in the morgue if they don’t change. That is the part that grieves me. Number one, I don’t want to see anyone getting hurt. Number two, I love kids and I hate to see them following the wrong people and jumping off the cliff to oblivion….taking countless lives with them.

Here is what I personally would like to see:

  • Parents start acting like parents and quit letting their kids run crazy. I realize that some parents are trying and some kids are going to rebel no matter what, but I am talking about the countless kids that have absentee fathers, no discipline, and nobody holding them accountable until it is too late. Parents need to step up and start parenting.
  • We need to have proper security at public events…even Six Flags. If this can happen at Six Flags, don’t think it can’t happen in your community at some local event. Proper security would have deterred those thugs from mauling that family.
  • There have to be consequences for criminal behavior. The 18 year old perpetrator was the only one pictured because the others were under 18 and considered juvenile. There has to come a point where we hold kids accountable for crimes, regardless of how old they are. I realize this is very complicated, but how do kids get away with beating a family senseless just because they are juveniles? I know they will go to some type of detention center, but when will we wake up and realize that what we are doing is not working? Most people in prison have rap sheets that are long…indicating that they are repeat offenders. It starts early, and left unchecked it will last a lifetime.

Please don’t take this blog as a slam against kids, blacks, or any other broad tag you might want to attach. It is a plea for us to change. We have to learn to recognize the problems with kids early on and help them get on the right path. They have to see that there are consequences by experiencing them. You can’t just talk about it. Talk is cheap and it has no teeth.

I love kids, but I am deeply concerned that if we don’t change what we are doing, we will lose much of the next generation to evil, and then we all have a price to pay.

Shalom!

Dan Skognes

8 Responses to “Six Flags Fright Fest Aptly Named”

  1. Diane says:

    Thank you for saying this. I completely agree and would add that some adults are just as angry and behave just as badly. We, as a society need to “take a breath” and reevaluate. This has to stop.

    • Dan Skognes says:

      Diane, our country is in big trouble if we don’t change. I agree that the adults are at fault too and often are worse than the kids. We have to bring back morality. Shalom! Dan

  2. What do you think about PBIS, Positive Behavior Intervention Strategies that many schools are using now a days. Also, Mind Growth – Learning from our mistakes and preserving?

    • Dan Skognes says:

      I am not familiar with PBIS, but Growth Mindset I am. I like Growth Mindset and thinking outside the box it teaches. I did take a continuing ed classes this past summer on non-violent intervention. Shalom! Dan

  3. Carol says:

    Great article Dan. I do not know how morality can be changed. What? Where? When? HOW? Did everything change when discipline became a n immoral and illegal issue?

    Was it when electronics took over to the extent of not caring about anything or anybody else? I remember when I was young, I felt others actually cared about their fellow man. I was not scared to accept help from a stranger, to change a tire.
    I had faith in human kindness. It’s the little things like waving thank-you to a driver who has pulled over to let you pass on a narrow street, or the driver who has let you back out of a parking spot. My dad taught these simple things through example.

    Whenever a young man opens a door for me, I am sure to say thank-you (and usually I add,” Your momma taught you right). I believe the family decline and everything that followed, began when stores started opening Sunday’s. Pleasing the stockholders became number one. God and family unity no longer mattered. Employees no longer did anything together as a unit outside of working hours. I saw morals within my workplace change dramatically. Morality changed and a whole generation grew up having to adjust. Many people no longer went to church. If they wanted a job, they had NO choice. No longer did we get to do fun things with our children, friends, and co-workers.

    I worked retail for many years. It hit me hard when years ago I watched many individuals sign a petition against Sunday shopping. Imagine my dismay when I was forced to work Sunday’s AND THE VERY PEOPLE WHO I SAW SIGN THE PETITION, were the FIRST ones to shop on Sunday after church. Luckily, eventually, a contract allowed one to not agree to be scheduled on Sundays. Unfortunately, it was grandfathered -out on another contract. Only the ones who started before a certain year, were allowed to request Sundays off.

    Getting to church has always been important to me. Unfortunately , one sees drastically reduced numbers of youth in our churches. I admire immigrants who faithfully come. My husband and I have discussed that the growth of our church is largely due to their attendance. Too many things are taken for granted. I have a plaque that says ” What if you woke up tomorrow with only the things you thanked God for yesterday? “

    • Dan Skognes says:

      Wow, Carol. You said so much and said it well. The world we grew up in has lost it’s innocence. It is up to us (and God, of course) to bring back those values. That is what will make America great again, and what the world desperately needs. I love the quote. I may have to borrow that one. :o)

      Give my love to the family. Shalom!

      Dan