Have you ever seen "Mean Girls?" I love that movie. In a scene following a vicious brawl, the principal called the junior class to the gym for a lecture on what constitutes appropriate behavior. Well America, I'm the principal. Get in the gym.

I'm disgusted with the behavior I've seen in America recently. People react violently at the slightest provocation. At first, I thought the many incidents of violence were anecdotal and indicative of nothing in particular. However, I'm growing worried a culture of violence is emerging. I'll give three examples of what I'm talking about.

At the local level, on Oct. 15 at the 800 block of North 19th Street, four underage, non-Marquette males tried to enter a party. When they were denied access, they shoved a student. When the student shoved back, one of the underage males pulled a gun and — firing wildly — shot two students and one of his own friends.

At the celebrity level, in a Nov. 19 NBA game between the Indiana Pacers and the Detroit Pistons, a fan threw a beer at Ron Artest. Artest and a teammate went into the stands and attacked several fans.

At the political level, look at the "motivation" for the Iraq war. In the aftermath of 9/11, many Americans were seething with anger. Iraq — which had nothing to do with 9/11 — just happened to be there. President Bush decided to invade.

Although these are seemingly unrelated incidents, they share a common trend: People lost their tempers and reacted with random violence. The guy who was shoved off the porch fired his gun randomly in anger. The Pacers not only attacked the fans who threw stuff, but every fan who happened to be in front of them. Bush attacked a random country, and now even he can't explain why he did it.

In all these situations, the negative consequences of reacting violently far outweigh any indignity that might have been suffered by simply walking away. Put yourself in the place of the aggressors. Are you willing to go to prison because you got trigger-happy after being denied access to a party? Are you thrilled to sit out the rest of the NBA season because you decked a fan? Are you happy you got America into the worst war since Vietnam for no real reason?

Sometimes violence is necessary, but it is not always the answer. It has ramifications for both victims and perpetrators. Before fighting, you'd better be damn sure you're justified. Everyone endures the occasional insult. But before we retaliate, we need to ask ourselves, "Does this actually warrant violence?" In most cases, I'm willing to bet it doesn't.

This article appeared in The Marquette Tribune on Nov. 30, 2004.

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