No Excuses!!

The news this week has been beyond disturbing about an 8 yr old girl, here in Phoenix, who was reported to be sexually assualted by 4 teen and pre-teen boys. All involved are refugees from Liberia, a war torn country where women are considered chattel and boys are raised to fight, rape and pillage as part of their military training. This does NOT give them license to rape and assualt this young girl.

I am very tired of the excuses, "that's just the way they were raised", "that's just his personality", "he/she's artistic", "he/she's ??? (whatever ethnicity)". There is no excuse for bad behavior. Yes, perhaps there are circumstances where life experiences are taken into consideration, but those experiences do not give license to treat others badly or break laws. There must be accountability.

Many times use of alcohol or drugs are seen as an acceptable excuse for bad behavior. "He can't hold his liquor" does not mean he can beat his wife or children. "She's very temperamental" is not an excuse for being rude to your neighbor.

I am not talking about those individuals who have mental health issues. My concern is those who feel that their bad behavior is justified by their personality, character traits or life experiences.

We all have off days from time to time - I know I do - but consistently behaving badly, reeking havoc in the lives of those we come in contact with, and being viewed as a malcontent, is not and will never be acceptable in our society. NO EXCUSES!!