Family Tragedy

I read your coverage regarding the 13-year-old boy accused of killing his father (“Teen-Ager Held on Suspicion of Killing Father,” Oct. 30). I was appalled by the statements of the police officers suggesting that the father’s actions were that of a normal, concerned father. The story said that the boy had received a mild spanking. It is not normal to strike a child, especially a 13-year-old. Society needs to learn that, when parents use violence to solve problems, the child will cope using violence. I am a 17-year-old high school senior, and this poem came to me after reading your account of this tragedy.

From the time the boy was small

He couldn’t understand it all

Make a mistake

His father’s hand is his fate

We can only speculate

About this young boy’s fate

But now the boy is not so small

In fact, he’s rather tall

And we hear and see what he’s done

He has nowhere left to run

No one has ever talked things out

He doesn’t know what that’s about

Who knows what went through his head

As he reached for that lead

Next . . . his father’s dead

When will we learn

We make that fire burn

It’s not one thing

It’s all this pain

Every time a marriage ends

Every time a hand is raised

That fire becomes crazed

And a child’s world more glazed

Children learn from what they see

We must show them to shun guns

Not hurt young hearts

And strive to keep love alive

Society will pay each and every day

I pray for the children

I pray for this planet

MICAELA HANLEY, Vista