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The 46-year-old accused killer's background revealed that his parents
divorced when he was a pre-teen, after which he had been placed under
foster care prior to being allegedly rescued by his mother. This claim
of being rescued indicates possible problems. Evidence from Ontario
revealed that children as young as 5 year old who had been wards of
the state during the 1950-1970 era, had actually been placed in
residential reform schools for misbehaved boys. Sexual abuses of boys
were known to occur at such institutions. Several former reform school
residents had subsequent run-ins with police. An inquiry may discover
what happened to James Roszko while he was under foster care and how
it may have affected him, unless there are reasons to keep this
covered up.
During this time, Roszko
was forcibly compelled by law to attend a state school institution
that usually had one or more school counselors on staff. But most
of these staff members were counselors in name only. The state school
system was in the ideal position to have provided the help needed to
rehabilitate problem youths or give support to children from broken
homes. Literature existed at that time detailing some difficulties and
behavioural problems of children from broken homes. Except that the
state school system failed to provide the help and guidance to those
who needed it most. Many teenagers at that time found school to be
boring and irrelevant, but spent time there until they were old enough
to go out to work. James Roszko evidently may have been in this
category.
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Anti-establishment youth sub-cultures |
This time period (late
60's and early 70's) was the era of America's Vietnam nightmare, an
incomprehensible political horror that divided America and demoralized
the mainstream of American youth. Many protested on college and
university campuses while others turned to drugs like marijuana and
LSD, perhaps to cope with the emotional impact of corrupt and
authoritarian Vietnam-era American politics. Anti-establishment youth
sub-cultures emerged across America and spread into Canada, smoking
(or toking) marijuana to "get high" as one of their social activities
that got participants accepted, validated, acknowledged and accorded
recognition by anti-establishment youth peers.
James Roszko had his
initial marijuana-related encounters with police during the height of
America's Vietnam era, when he was entering the age group that began
to use marijuana. In its expedient shortsightness to achieve something
politically acceptable over the short term (regardless of the long-term consequences), the state had criminalized the peaceful use and
possession of marijuana. During an earlier period, ownership and use
of marijuana by peaceful people was regarded as a private matter. If a
parent at that point in time found one of his children to be in
possession of marijuana, the matter would likely have been dealt with
privately, perhaps behind a wood shed. A few other parents may have
sought help from professional counselors.
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