Editorials

Doing nothing as someone dies is no way to live

Highlands Today
Published: June 13, 2012

Facts surrounding the slaying of Aaron Doty are still coming in. All we know is that a terrible tragedy occurred and a young man lost his life. Our hearts go out to his friends and family during this most difficult time.

What does seem apparent is that a number of people were there at a party when this incident happened, or at least that's what some people claim. One, in fact, said she had a video of the fight.

If what we've heard at this point is even half true, and even if it is isn't, it's time people wake up and realize that when things like this happen, they have a duty as a citizen and as a fellow human being to do their best to stop it. Immediate calls to police might have made a difference. There's no excuse to sit by knowing violence on this scale is happening and not try to save a life.

Over the years our society has grown more violent. That seems strange to say since we glorify cowboy days and someone being shot in the streets. But what we're talking about are fights that escalate into full-fledged beatings, where victims are killed or damaged for life.

We can blame it on video games or movies or whatever, but what it comes down to are parents who don't teach their children from their earliest years that there's a line you never cross. And there's also a basic compassion we must feel for one another even when tempers are lost and a fight happens.

There was a time that even when a fight did happen, once one side prevailed, the fight ended. Sure, there might have been minor injuries, but nothing like we see so many times when someone on the ground is being pummeled, kicked and beaten by more than one person.

A new kind of violence is taking hold that's not only scary, it's deadly. Its poison lives in the heart of some people and that can only happen if it's been there and allowed to fester from a young age.

Parents also need to make it clear to their children that they should never sit by and watch someone be attacked without at least calling authorities. It's OK to contact the police when someone is breaking the law.

In fact, they are just as guilty if they watch something like this and do nothing.

It might not be cool to be considered a snitch, but it's even less cool to watch someone sustain serious or fatal injuries at the hands of someone else. It takes a much bigger person to step up and do the right thing. Anything else is just cowardly.