By ROBERT E. DiMILIA Sr.
Jeff Harrell’s column "In the wake of carnage, we can’t help but judge," [Advance, Sept. 19] is right. We do need to do something about the senseless and derelict behavior of our youth. But an article like Mr. Harrell’s does little to that end but to promote salacious and graphically insensitive prose, which only goes to making parents of the deceased suffer all the more.
The article makes some good points, but at what cost? Does an column have the right to read more like something in a pornographic magazine than a responsible community newspaper? I am a little surprised that the Advance would allow such debauchery to exist on its pages.
Yes, we need to do something to reverse this desperate situation with the behavior of our youth but let’s do it responsibly, not in such a desperate attempt to sell more papers.
Maybe, the Advance should take the lead, use its resources (past files, research, etc.) and cull together community leaders, and survivors of such events to work in unison to quell this problem. That would be the responsible path for the Advance to take.