While Pay Day was a work of fiction, every one of the characters represents someone, somewhere. My hopes and prayers are that the troubled kids of America (and the world) would have someone concerned enough to pray for them with an effective fervency. I also pray that Christian kids would gain the courage to act on their convictions. But I don’t pray only for the kids, I would that somehow the parents of troubled kids become aware of the possible results of their attitudes and behavior toward the ones that most deserve their love. Even the good parents of good kids need affection and adult counsel.

James stands for many whose parents set him up for devastation when their plans for him don’t work out. In this case, James’ mother virtually adopted his girlfriend, Amy. She emotionally married her. I’m no psychologist, but this type of heartbreak might be more than a teenage spirit can handle.

John Campbell, the leader of the Christian group, was a good guy, a true disciple of Christ, but the others did not lean on his spirituality. They supported him, and then picked up the slack when he was overwhelmed. In the same vein, Chloe did not allow her junior status to interfere with her convictions, or purpose.

It might be a stretch to accept that the scholarly disappointment Philip Andrews experienced would drive him to murder, but a kid under pressure can break, whether it’s scholastics, or sports, or in the arts, or simple social acceptance. Parents should know what’s going on in their kids’ minds and worlds. Generally, I’m not a fan of participation trophies, but finishing second is not losing. Coming in last after trying your very best is not losing, either. The slowest in the race beat every single one who sat in the stands. Some parents need help accepting that.

And take Earl, James’ uncle with the AR15. How many friends and relatives assume that their upstanding young loved ones would never, ever, take advantage of their trust? You just don’t know. And it is never worth the risk. Lock your weapons!

T.J.’s dad … come on, Dad … You’ve seen the movies, and read enough to know that your kid will some day be big enough, and strong enough to bust your chops. If not out of common decency, then out of self-preservation, stop being a bully to your kids! They either learn how to be a bully from you, or determine to pay you back, even if it’s only abandoning you in a nursing home.

I have been all of the bad kids, in one fashion or another. Believe me, anyone can behave hideously evil. But why make it easy for them? My dad left the family (5 kids) for three years when I was 12. I was registered into seven different schools by the eleventh grade where I quit to join the Marines the summer before my senior year. (One correspondence course and I had enough credits to graduate, though a year after my class). I was college prep, but was trapped with a James Dean/Jimmy Orr attitude. And yes, I took a gun to school.

Thankfully, my mother was a praying woman. The convictions of her prayers hounded me. During those years I had just enough religion to make me miserable. (Thankfully)

Preachers and ministers – be there for your students. Be ready to offer them your full support. School officials, know the law. Know what students can lawfully do, and what you can and cannot do. Be firm, and support your Christian students.

I have no interest in describing how troubled kids can gain entry into schools, but with an accomplice, and/or determination, they can. We have to do what we can to prevent catastrophe. We must do everything in our power to make it as hard as possible to keep guns out of the hands of kids and others who should not have them. When a six-year-old can take his parents’ gun to school and shoot a teacher … Or a toddler shoot a sibling … Or a hostile person is reported to the law, but can still buy … We must do what we know to do.

I own firearms, but I do not want to have to answer to the authorities, or to God Almighty, why I made it easy for anyone, especially a child, to take one of them and hurt somebody, to destroy a family. It would be as if I pulled the trigger myself.

Finally, for you troubled kids, there are those out there who want to love you, who want to help you. And there is a Savior who loves you already. Confess with your mouth your crimes. Believe in your heart that Jesus, the Son of God, exists and wants to forgive you. And accept Him into your heart and life. Then comes the easy part that Satan wants you to believe is hard – tell someone. Walk up to someone you trust, someone you know is a Christian who lives an overcoming life. Walk into a church, one that the Holy Spirit guides you to and tell the first person you see that you have just accepted Jesus. And tell your old friends, “Nah, man. I don’t wanna do that anymore. I got saved.”

Jesus will help you. Start reading the Bible in the New Testament book of John. Find a church that will teach you how to be friends with Jesus. Surround yourself with new friends who love Jesus and want God’s best for you. They are out there looking for you.