I was heartbroken watching TV Monday night and seeing what the youth of Baltimore were doing to the areas where they live.
At first I asked myself, what kind of upbringing are these children getting that they think it is OK to loot, steal and burn down other people's property, stores, cars and houses? They are the ones that now will not have a CVS or a grocery store in the neighborhood. They destroyed the places where they could get jobs and make purchases.
I live in the suburbs — they did not hurt me — but they are hurting themselves, their future and their children's futures. These will be the children that have more children, not finish school, not be able to get a job and then complain that their life is so terrible and they have nothing. They have nothing because they do nothing to get anywhere. Stay in school, open up your books, read and study like we did. Then you are able to leave your area and get a job, and then when you get the job, you have to go to work and earn your salary. You don't get paid for doing nothing.
The cycle has to stop somewhere and some time. Make it now, here in Baltimore. Take responsibility for yourself and your actions. Learn to be respectful. Be proud of yourself and what you can and will accomplish. Once you are proud of yourself and doing the right things, good things will come your way. But they will not be on a silver platter and you will not get them from actions like what happened Monday night.
A young man lost his life because of actions that made the police take him into custody. Now, once he was in custody, something terrible happened. But had he not been acting the way he was, had he been home with his family, had he not run from the police, the whole thing would have never happened. We create our world by the way we act and live our lives.
Christine Gaia Hopper, Pasadena