A call to action
It’s difficult to organize thoughts beyond the heartbreaking acknowledgment that an extraordinary tragedy occurred on Feb. 14 in Florida.
Seventeen people will be buried and many others were injured when an 19-year-old allegedly pulled a fire alarm and shot at students as they exited classrooms.
This was the third deadliest school shooting behind Virginia Tech and Sandy Hook.
It’s a sad commentary that we quantify them by rank now because there are so many.
The crush of media coverage brought with it politicians and pundits. They circled their wagons around discussions of gun control and mental illness, familiar talking points in the face of all-too-frequent mass casualty incidents.
Their talk, absent action, is tiresome.
The divide between parties seems so deep that we the people are swallowed up in the chasm it has created. It’s far beyond simply “not acceptable” that political agendas stymie change. Continued discussion without compromise that leads to a resolution will not solve this problem.
So as our lawmakers to continue to talk, we must look to ourselves and begin to act, doing the things we can at the grassroots level to try to curb the violent acts of our young people.
We must begin to affect change on the most basic level, starting with the things we can control in our homes.
Parents, engage with your children. Put down your phone; make them do the same. Don’t communicate through text messages and “likes” on Facebook.
We’ve become a society of electronic communication. While it’s convenient, talking through a screen robs us of the opportunity for the genuineness that comes with a face-to-face conversation. There’s no way to gauge a facial expression, hear the tone of words or see a reaction with a screen between you.
Sit down with your children and talk to them. It may feel funny at first, they may not like it, but parents must persist.
Show them that you care, and find out what you may be missing. Hopefully it’s nothing — but parental concern expressed up close and personal, done with care and love, is a strong first step toward giving a child a hand up during what can be confusing and stressful years.
Let your children know that you are their safe place, and mean it.
Parents have to be available, and decide to be the example that children will look to when they are deciding what to say or how to act.
Through that love, that example, maybe parents can make a dent in the sad reality of school shootings. Maybe the adults in the lives of children can be the release valve for fear, angst and confusion.
Folks, we have to start somewhere. Our leaders huff and puff; they debate and deride one another. If we wait for them to make the change, it may never come.
We need to take these matters into our own hands, and we need to accept our individual responsibilities for trying to make this world better.
They say we should learn to accept the things we cannot change, but right now, we need to decide to change the things we cannot accept.