Just what any confused and
depressed kid wants to see.
A group of children witnessed the horrific sight of a homicide as they participated in a football tournament back on August 12. The game, which was established to promote nonviolence throughout the Cincinnati community, was cut tragically short when Dante Allen cold-bloodedly shot Earnest Crear in the head near the stadium. Needless to say, it could take a normal adult months or years to get over something that ghastly, but it could scar a 6 to 12-year-old kid, the age range of the participating players, for life.
So, how does the city go about caring for the young bystanders that were subjected to the violence? You’d probably figure that the city council members would extend some type of counseling to the children and their families, but you’d be wrong. No, Cincinnati’s big wigs and the community church leaders decided to give the runts tickets to the circus and call it even. Are you kidding?! The freakin’ circus!! These kids are subjected to a violent murder and all you can do is give `em a free pass to watch 27 clowns tumble out of a 1973 VW Bug after some douche launches himself out of a cannon? Yeah, that promotes healing.
Look, we’re not asking you to stop the world and cater to these kids all the way through adolescence, but a little more compassion than a $7 ticket to a ¾ empty arena would be nice. Maybe the next time tragedy strikes your city’s youth you can just sweep it under the rug by handing out vouchers good for one free bookmark the next time they visit the Cincinnati public library. Hey, at least this takes some heat off the mayor for his horrendous opening pitch.
Links:
[Local12.com]: Kids Who Witnessed Murder Get Tickets To Circus
[KSBY.com]: Shooting ends kid’ football tournament aimed at promoting nonviolence in Cincinnati