Another week is halfway gone, and another month is almost done, albeit sooner than most, even with an extra day. Like far too many weeks, months, and years before, another two school shooting incidents happened in the last week - and already much of the media has moved on from that tragedy to dissect the results of Arizona, Michigan, and what Olympia Snowe and Bob Kerrey's moves will mean.
You'll excuse us if we seem a bit dark today, after seeing the details of these two stories float across our digital desktops. Three dead, four wounded, and two more kids who'd already been ignored and abused by far too many will now get placed into our so-called justice system, where they'll likely get ignored and abused even further.
We're certain that many of you saw the stories on the shooter in rural Ohio, who is now responsible for the deaths of three of his classmates. You may not have caught the story of the nine-year -old, in Bremerton, Washington who accidentally shot a classmate of his last week.
While the victim of the shooting in Washington didn't die, the background stories of the two gun-toting kids seem eerily similar. Both sets of parents, from both shooters, had criminal records and histories of violence. Drugs, abuse, poverty and bullying at school were in the records of both young men, as well. Both gave plenty of signs that something wasn't right - yet everyone around them seems to have ignored the warning signs, like in the case of so many child shooters before.
There are so many things that we cannot control in the stories we focus upon each day. The political decisions of actors in other nations, as well as those in the U.S., for example. Natural disasters fall into that category - as does the unexpected, like a terminal birth defect in the child of an old friend.
For all the things we cannot control in this world, it frustrates us so greatly that so many do not take the time to properly manage those things they can control.
To engage another person, at a level deep enough to see them as more than just another child, another student, another cog in the wheel of our busy daily lives just isn't that hard. When you ask someone "How's your day?" Listen for the response. MEAN it, don't just say it.
If you see bullying at a school, or in your neighborhood? Step up and step in. We don't mean take over - but say something, to those involved, and to the authorities in the area.
Lastly, when it comes to guns, let's all be honest about this. Just like cars, guns are machines that kill. Easily, quickly, shockingly so. You wouldn't put a child behind the wheel of a car and expect them to drive to the store - and you protect your access to that car, even when your children grow up. Unlike cars, guns - especially handguns - don't have any other purpose. Their function is to kill. Period.
If you have ANYONE in your family that has guns and doesn't treat them with the utmost respect and a hyper-vigilant sense of care, we heavily question your judgement allowing your child anywhere near those family members or friends.
We're not crazy, and we certainly don't believe that even most people following all these guidelines would stop every incident of random violence. Kids get bullied. People get bullied. People react. Unfortunate or not, that's the human condition.
By shutting our mouths, closing our eyes, not asking questions and not getting involved, we not only allow these kinds of violent actions - we assist them, every day - somewhere.
Enough is enough. Ask. Talk. Tell. Get involved.
DO something.
