An article on the front page of the Seattle Times on Jan. 31 told the story of Victor Renard Gorman Jr., a teenager with a violent past.

It’s a sad story, but not unlike many others we have read over the years and we can expect to read more if we do nothing.

I worked as a para-educator in one of the high schools in Federal Way and became aware of students who were heading down the wrong path, big time. Multiply those students by all the high schools in the state by the number of years this has been going on, and you realize our state has a major problem we have yet to address. The human toll has been incalculable as the status quo is difficult to overcome.

However, it’s time we attack this problem straight on as if we meant business. We should stop allowing some of our young people to ruin their lives with destructive behavior who often take others down with them. Our educators see the early signs when they are in school and they should be given the tools to salvage these students before it is too late. We have paid a high price for doing nothing as we watch these students gradually fall away from school and society. They are wasting their lives and we collectively are watching it happen.

For the sake of those students, we need to devise an intervention system that will lift them out of their situation and on to a better path where they can enjoy a better and more productive life. The cost will be high, but we are already paying for our apathy. There are legal and sociological impediments to overcome, but there are smart people in our state who can figure out the details. That’s the easy part. Mustering the will is the challenge.

Will we meet it? Not if the past is any indication.

Don Payne, Federal Way