Fernando Moronta is a name I knew well in grade school. He was a good kid in 5th grade, and though he and I were never friends, he always seemed like the typical example of a person you could get along with. Then, about a week ago, I picked up a newspaper and read about the arrest of five gang members, including Fernando.

Only a few years ago, Fernando Moronta was in my class, and now he is in a United States Court charged with second degree murder and first degree assault (Newsday). This leads me to ask the question: How did this happen? Other kids, some of whom I knew by reputation and some from casual conversation, were all in the same, or worse, circumstances.

This isn't my only "old friend" who has fallen. I recall a time when my friends and I ran into an old classmate. He ran from car to car saying, "I knew this (well, let's just assume he said "kid"), and this one, and him! I had a fight with you in 8th grade! Whatup?!" He then told us his tale. "Weed f---ed my life up, man! Remember, we used to be in all the honors classes? Then I got hooked on weed!" Yes, I remembered. It was ridiculous in one way, but also it nearly brought me to tears.

The old expression goes, "My, how the mighty have fallen." People who once seemed so cool, so easygoing, can, with age, become hollow and cracked. It makes one wonder what life means, when the kid you grew up with is now looking at a long jail term due to gang-related violence. Instead of simply lashing out at the guilty, let's look at how people fall to these depths.

To be honest, I have no more insight than anyone. That's why I'm suggesting we look at society for a moment. With as many subcultures as there are, which promote violence and hatred? Certainly Fernando Moronta belonged to the Latin Kings gang (the leader). Is the "gangsta" culture to blame? Is rap music with lyrics that paint vivid scenes of gang-war glory to blame? Or could it be something else; heavy metal, perhaps? Did he listen to a record backwards and take in the subliminal messages? Or does it have more to do with wealth and poverty, the growing disparity between the two, and the irreconcilable fact that a poor man will steal bread to eat?

Regardless, there is no way to deny that a man's actions speak for him. Killing or assisting in the murder of another person does nothing to elevate you from poverty. But if all you hear as a child are songs about killing other people, if all you see are images of violence on TV, and if all society does is make you an outcast, do you honestly care enough about other people to consider life worthwhile? Perhaps I'm simply asking questions which cannot be answered, but I think we should look into the root of violence, not just punish those that commit the act.

After all, if a man has no cause to hurt another, why would he? For fun? Perhaps, but instead of glorifying madmen who do such things, they should be shunned. Instead of glorifying gang battles, we should condemn them. I could be wrong, but I'd like to hope that with a little common sense injected into society, somewhere down the line someone will be saved from reading about a childhood friend who was arrested for murder.