Wake Up America!
Turn on the TV to recent events and may become overwhelmed with sadness, anger and tragedy. The latest topic is gun violence in schools. People who are for or against gun bans or gun reform. No talk about what is being done with the cause of these tragedies. If you think it is solely about access to guns, I think you are sadly mistaken. The root of the problem goes beyond violent video games and gun obsession. It is called lack of involvement. It means turning the other way when you sense there may be something not right and doing nothing. It means as a teacher noticing a child who is withdrawn and not performing well and making excuses for not saying anything sooner or choosing to look the other way. It means as a parent, not knowing what your child likes or has passions in, by being "busy", or not raising concerns when all your child has been talking about or obsessing about is guns. It means as a neighbor, seeing something you know may not be right and choosing to not do anything because you fear it is not your business. You see before the gun, weapon was picked up and chosen there was a reason, there was a plan, there was something that made that person decide they were willing to hurt someone, or themselves for. Why don't we talk about that?
I remember 1999, when Columbine happened, I was in high school. I remembered being scared that something like that could occur on school grounds. That should have been a huge wake up call for America, because behind that there was exclusion and bullying that probably went unaddressed and ignored until the day two teenagers decided to end their hurt, get rid of their problems and eventually end their own lives. Many continue today to have to go through this tragedy over and over again because all we can talk about is gun control, less guns, more guns, etc. To the point of teachers with guns! Teachers are in charge of educating and securing the future, please do not give them additional responsibilities of having to also be lethal weapons too. For what, to make it like the Wild West and have everyone walking around strapped and ready? Again, we are missing the problem.
We need to focus on the why did this occur? Some may argue well, access to guns should not be easy. I think we like to put blame on something, instead of ourselves. We are the problem. Not being involved in our child's lives, not being aware, not doing enough. It seems like yesterday it was teen suicides sweeping the nation, for bullying that still today is not properly addressed. Now all we can talk about is guns. There is a reason this occurred and we have to be smarter than just think it was having access to guns. There has been school shootings throughout history, all very tragic. How is it that many schools today are not properly equipped for danger? Why is it that metal detectors are only in inner city schools but not at all schools? Why don't all schools have security guards trained for potential violence? The best prevention we can do for tragedies such as these is to start being more aware and don't be afraid to be involved. It is when you stop caring and looking the other way such chaos can occur. I think it about time we wake up, America!
I remember 1999, when Columbine happened, I was in high school. I remembered being scared that something like that could occur on school grounds. That should have been a huge wake up call for America, because behind that there was exclusion and bullying that probably went unaddressed and ignored until the day two teenagers decided to end their hurt, get rid of their problems and eventually end their own lives. Many continue today to have to go through this tragedy over and over again because all we can talk about is gun control, less guns, more guns, etc. To the point of teachers with guns! Teachers are in charge of educating and securing the future, please do not give them additional responsibilities of having to also be lethal weapons too. For what, to make it like the Wild West and have everyone walking around strapped and ready? Again, we are missing the problem.
We need to focus on the why did this occur? Some may argue well, access to guns should not be easy. I think we like to put blame on something, instead of ourselves. We are the problem. Not being involved in our child's lives, not being aware, not doing enough. It seems like yesterday it was teen suicides sweeping the nation, for bullying that still today is not properly addressed. Now all we can talk about is guns. There is a reason this occurred and we have to be smarter than just think it was having access to guns. There has been school shootings throughout history, all very tragic. How is it that many schools today are not properly equipped for danger? Why is it that metal detectors are only in inner city schools but not at all schools? Why don't all schools have security guards trained for potential violence? The best prevention we can do for tragedies such as these is to start being more aware and don't be afraid to be involved. It is when you stop caring and looking the other way such chaos can occur. I think it about time we wake up, America!
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