Hello Beautiful People,
Lately, my Facebook feed has been full of stories and news reports about Ebola.
And while I’m not knocking the severity of the disease, I have to tell you, it was really disturbing when I didn’t find anyone talking about the school shooting that happened in the state of Washington last week.
Nothing.
No cry for justice. No cause for concern…just…nothing.
And that breaks my heart a bit. Because I’m afraid that means we’re living in an age where people have come to expect and accept things like school shootings.
And….that’s a scary thought.
Now, I don’t want to preach about gun control. That’s not my aim with his post. Rather, I’d love to raise a discussion about how I’m not sure if we’re asking the right questions…
See, when a teenager goes into a school and shoots people, the first question the media will pose is where’d he/she get that gun. And while I don’ t think a sixteen year old should ever have possession of an AK47, I often struggle to understand why that’s the first question people ask.
See, what I’d like to know is WHY IS NOBODY ASKING WHY A TEENAGER WOKE UP ONE DAY AND DECIDED THAT IT’D BE A GOOD DAY TO SHOOT PEOPLE.
See, therein lies the problem my friends. Perhaps not enough people are talking to the youngsters of today. Perhaps there needs to be a conversation about what it means to take another person’s life. Perhaps there needs to be a conversation about forgiveness. About doing harm. About learning. About growing. About understanding. Perhaps, in this age of social media and instant connection, we’re not actually communicating well.
We’re not communicating well at all.
And I think, that perhaps the change that we need to see is one that begins with a simple conversation.
Perhaps there needs to be a conversation with those who are being bullied, and the bullies.
Perhaps there needs to be a teacher, administrator, community leader, etc – who facilitates an avenue and an arena that gets to the root of why these kids feel like a gun is the answer to their problems.
Perhaps we need to open our eyes to what the root of the problem is. Cause yes, guns kill. But guns have been around for a long time. So what’s changed? What is going on in the hearts of so many young people that they feel like the only answer to their problems is to take another life?
The conversation needs to happen.
Live, Love, Learn,
Hi Megan, I just shared your post on my FB page. Your topic is so important. And it’s true. We do get numb to horrible news and as a nation grow to accept things as “normal”. Personally I think that after Newtown, after SO MANY people, more than ever before, tried to get meaningful gun legislation passed and the way in which it was held up by Congress and particularly by the NRA, that there is some sense of defeat; a sense of hopelessness that we can keep guns like AK47s out of the hands of kids. Your focus on communication with kids and Why they would turn to gun violence and the other questions you raised about what it means to take another’s life, etc. These are all vitally important. But the fact that an angry kid or adult CAN get his hands on an automatic weapon is still critically important. . When we have a bully like the NRA defining the types (pretty much ALL) and availability (pretty much everywhere) of guns and rifles we have a serious problem. I think it is the hostile intransigence of the NRA and the fact there was NO federal legislative response to Newtown that has dampened hope and quieted the conversation of what to do about school violence at least for now. Hopefully I’m wrong, and people connected to schools and kids ARE talking about it. Anyway, thanks for your provocative and insightful column.
Thank you!