What in the heck is going on in this world? I was going through the papers the other day and our world is just getting stranger and stranger.

In Red Wing, a two-year-old was in critical condition after an agitated man tossed the child down a flight of stairs at police officers who were responding to a 911 call.

The man was arrested and is being held in the county jail. OK, you have just broken my rule of harming an innocent child. I believe that people like this need to go to a special jail which is a step above whatever is the worst jail or fortress now available.

Can we reopen Alcatraz? In my eyes this person and people who harm children in any way need a place like that to rot.

A toddler is one of the most precious beings on earth. This little person is perfect in every way until outside influences, both good and bad, mold them into the human being they become.

Picture a room full of two-year-old kids running around and playing. Included in this group is every nationality and color possible in the world.

They do not see that they are different colors or nationalities; they just see another person who is the same size as themselves who wants to play.

You see two-year-old children have no politics or religions to argue about. They have no red states or blue states; as a matter of fact the only states that bother them are yellow and brown states that happen to live in their diapers or in the potty.

Two-year-old children should actually run the government. I think we would get a more honest answer from them than the ones we get now.

If you follow politics on the local, state

or national level and see how some politicians act, you would swear that they are acting like a two-year-old, except that would be disgracing the toddler.

I think the correct saying should be &uot;stop that, you’re acting like a 52-year-old.&uot;

Children are the last horizon, we need to protect them and care for them. We need to have stricter laws and better ways of providing for them.

Drugs and violence are sadly a part of our lives. We need to protect our children from these evils. Children need us.

When is the last time you watched a toddler play or say something and not laughed?

Innocence is brief and we need to protect it for as long as we can. I remember walking my daughter to her kindergarten class and seeing the cliques and groups already starting to form.

I was amazed. It seems children are losing their innocence at a younger age, and I think we as parents need to take a stand. We need to knock down the walls because we are the ones who &045; because of our thoughts and influences &045; put up those walls.

I am not saying that a group hug or singing &uot;Kumbaya&uot; will save the children and our society; I am just saying we need to take responsibility and watch out for the children &045; your own as well as other children

&045; who need help.

As for the idiots who beat or take advantage of children in any way, your day is coming and I believe what comes around goes around.

I pray that I never have to witness or read about another child being hurt by being thrown down a flight of stairs.

Alcatraz is waiting.

(Scott Schmeltzer is publisher of the Tribune. His column runs Monday.)