The Times-Dispatch is reporting the arrest of Kent Peace, who has been robbing Southwood Apartment residents and perhaps others by riding up on a bicycle and brandishing a gun. He is involved in as many as seven robberies. Fortunately, Kent never pulled the trigger.

For those of you who recall the story I wrote on Howard Scott, who was involved in the Byrd Park murder of Tyler Binstead, this story is so similar it’s disturbing. I knew Kent, as well as I knew Howard. Kent certainly had a lot more going for him than Howard, but he had all the signs of an angry, apathetic, young man just like Howard.  I never imagined Kent becoming a crook. I didn’t think of Howard as becoming one either, but I could see they were on the road to a bad life.

Frankly, if Kent had pointed a gun at me, I probably would have told him to put it away before I whoop his you-know-what. He’s not a tough guy, just a mouthy kid who thinks he can do whatever he wants. I guess the police department has proven once again that this is not the case.

So why write all of this editorial stuff? Who really cares? Well, that’s the question I am trying to answer. Who really cares. I imagine there will be comments in the RTD that say good riddance and what an awful guy he must be, etc., but those people don’t care. So who does?

I had met his mother and she seemed like a kind, caring woman, who maybe had more than a handful to deal with, so how did this boy get so misguided? I don’t recall his father being around, but I don’t think it takes a father to be raised properly. I guess no one saw it coming right? I doubt it. It was pretty obvious to the people that had to deal with him that he was a bit of a hellion. He clearly needed help, but how do you help someone who refuses to be helped?

I feel that I am left with more questions than answers. I would like to point out one thing that has become obvious to me. To save our children from the roads that Howard Scott and Kent Peace have chosen, we need more people to be there.

Being there means volunteering in the community, going to sports events at schools, getting involved with our teens and children before it’s too late. Getting our parks and recreation programs well funded so that there is more to offer. Did you know there is only one indoor pool on the Southside? Improving our libraries so they don’t look like something from the 1970′s; improving our schools so the roofs stop leaking and the buildings are clean and functional. No, these are not impossible, leftist-liberal ideas, these are real possibilities that we are all going to have to fork out some cash and personal time to achieve. I don’t mind paying for someone’s  education if it prevents another teen pregnancy, a future life as a criminal, etc. I don’t mind spending time with people I don’t know in order to broaden their horizons because some of those people don’t know that the small cloth on the table is actually a napkin and the extra fork is for a salad.

Kent probably stole less than he could have made working at McDonald’s for a month. Now he’s going to be paying his debt to society for a long time. Maybe the rest of his life in someways. I hope that sherrif C.T. Woody’s slogan, “Making better people, not criminals” will come to pass for Kent. Even if he doesn’t read this, someone should be advocating for him and those who will follow him down the dark road.