the value of childhood is easily blurred in todays world.consider some recent developments:the child-murderers in the jonesboro,ark.schoolyard shooting case were convicted and sentenced.two boys,7 and 8,were charged in the murder of an 11-year-old girl in chicago.

　　that question echoes for the accused in chicago,young as they are.they wanted the girls bicycle,a selfish impulse common enough among kids.

　　but the moral void that invites violence has many sources.family instability contributes.so does economic stress.that void,however,can be filled.the work starts with parents,who have to ask themselves whether theyre doing enough to give their children a firm sense of right and wrong.are they really monitoring their activities and their developing processes of thought?

　　the goal,ultimately,is to allow all children a normal passage from childhood to adulthood ,so that tragic gaps in moral judgement are less likely to occur.the relative few who fill such gaps with acts of violence hint at many others who dont go that far,but who lack the moral foundations childhood should provide ~ and which progressive human society relies on.