Skip to main content

First in the Hearts

A real first yesterday.  With the latest school shooting came the distinction of a school shooting occurring on the anniversary of another school shooting.  So now we get the benefit of watching the latest grieving parents and then last year's, who, I might add, are still grieving.
As commentator Bill Maher likes to say, "We're the gun country, that's all, that's how we're perceived by the rest of the world."
True Dat!

Where else can we begin to comprehend statistics like there were more people killed by guns in our country than in our military deployments throughout the past year.
With some politicos fronting solutions like  arming teachers, it's only going to get worse.
Another observation:  When the hand wringing stops and people begin authentic discussions of this phenomena we casually refer to as a school shooting, we easily seem to slide from gun laws to mental health issues.  A vicious circle of commentary.
Why so many shootings in Colorado?  Probably no real meaning here.  Yet it deserves deeper attention.  Why has the 2nd amendment been reduced to illogic with no real retribution from legal scholars?
I read the statistics about how many teachers quit before their 5th year.  It's as consistent as the school shootings.  I read about how many 20 year veterans are leaving the profession because of the pressure of misguided reform, the emphasis on standardized testing, the fear and general malaise that's palpable on school campuses.  And now this, active shooters.  At what point, I often ask myself, will I too stop encouraging young people to enter the profession?
Oddly enough, when I play my role as a field supervisor and enter a school during the middle of the day, I am seldom stopped or asked for ID.  I usually wear a photo badge on a lanyard, but nobody looks at it.  I get that I look like I belong.  But unless they openly carry weapons, so do most school shooters.
It figures that this country is split and polarized on what to do about the fact that depressed, disgruntled, and desperate people walk into our schools and take innocent lives with great ease.
To change that it takes political will.  That takes ethics which needs to be accompanied by courage.
I wonder how that Colorado legislator who was recently recalled because he stood up to the gun lobby and remained true to his moral compass feels today?  What about his constituents?

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

To a Tee

 I'm a sucker for a good t-shirt.  They are the foundational garment of my life.  My day starts with selecting a t-shirt and it ends with sleeping in one.  Once thought of as under garments, t-shirts are now original art and no doubt, a billion dollar business.   You can get a t-shirt with anybody's picture displayed.  You can commemorate an event, a birthday, a death, even a specular play in any sport.  Family reunions usually have a commemorative t-shirt.  Also, any organization that solicits your support in the form of a donation is likely to offer you a t-shirt. Where once I only had the basic white t-shirt, my drawers are filled with all manner of colorful choices.  Some recognize major events in my life, some, spectacular performances or plays I have witnessed, and some unforgettable places I have been.   I say I'm a sucker for a good t-shirt because I have taken the bait on what I perceived as a must-have only to be disappointed. ...

Illusory

What does it take to enrage you?  That moment when your words fly on pure emotion because enough is enough.  Is it a driver that cuts you off at high speed?  What about being an eyewitness to blatant racism or on the receiving end of some obvious injustice? I know some people who never express rage.  I admire them but know full well I am not capable of such distance from that which would bring about such a strong response. Another senseless shooting and 7 people die at the hands of a mentally ill gun owner.  The father of the 20 year old college student lets it fly and somehow millions feel a new sense of relief.  He calls the politicians bastards who do nothing, he wears his pain in public.  The news media responds but we all know that nothing is going to change.  We are the gun country.  We are the place where anybody, anytime, can be cut down just for being there when somebody else snaps. Usually the perpetrators are delusional. ...

Mr. Greene v. Mr. Brown

I want to tell you about something. Something I've carried inside myself for a number of years now. Perhaps if I were a different kind of person I wouldn't need to talk about it. I'm not. My need to tell it is stronger than your need to hear it. Because, however, there are a number of teachers and former students of mine who may read these meanderings from time to time, I need to tell this story all the more. About 7 or 8 years ago I was asked if I would allow a university PhD. candidate to observe an English class. At first I decided against it because I was scheduled to have a student teacher placed with me the second half of the semester in question. After some urging, however, at the request of a respected colleague, I agreed. Soon I was committing to extra meetings, signing documents and explaining to the class in question who the young woman who thoughtfully pounded away on a laptop in the rear of the classroom three times a week was. I knew that the topic of ...