Children are not Responsible for Social Change
On Wednesday, February 14th – Valentine’s Day – a young man walked into a high school, pulled the fire alarm and waited for students to come out of their classrooms before starting to shoot. He killed 17 people before being subdued, ending the shooting spree. I won’t say his name because the identities of killers shouldn’t be glorified, exploited or broadcast. The United States has had dozens and dozens of school shootings since 1979, when a 16 year old sat in her house across from an elementary school and began shooting because, “I don’t like Mondays.”
When shaping the Western, Judeo-Christian society, school became the epicenter. When the class system and factory work was growing the backbone of the America we have today, preparing factory workers with basic literacy skills and, you guessed it, schools, became the epicenter. By the way, we traditionally sit in rows because in garment factories the workers sit in…you guessed it…rows. 50 years and Dewey later, small table groups and similar configurations became more common. Back to the topic, when society was desegregating, school became the epicenter and a young Black girl, Ruby Bridge, was the first Black child at an all-white elementary school in Louisiana. When obesity became a national health epidemic, school menus became the focus of social change and celebrities and the wife of a President came to the “rescue”. Again, school became the focus of social change and children were the pawns in a political game of chess. But this is completely inappropriate. Children ought to be the beneficiary of the efforts of their parents and other adults, not the mechanism of change.
And that brings me to the point of this essay. Soon after the Parkland attack, some of the students from the high school were interviewed and this media attention became the crux of the difference between Parkland and all the other school shootings; the targets of the shooter were alive, angry and speaking out. Lots of adults are on board and proud of the students but I am not among them. Don’t get me wrong, I am proud of the bravery and courage to speak out clearly and angrily within days of coming face to face with death but I am completely ashamed of the adults who have stood by for almost four decades and have done nothing about the accessibility of guns in general but specifically, assault weapons.
Despite what people like Dan Rather have to say on this topic, being the vehicle for change is not a kid’s job. Being the impetus or driving force for change is a kid’s job. Want the world a better place for your children or grandchildren or, heaven forbid, just children in general? Be the change. I don’t own a handgun, I won’t own a handgun and you won’t bring your handgun into my home. I’m not on the street advocating against gun ownership [mostly because I know it won’t work], but I am being the change I want to see. Going on, don’t want your child to grow up impoverished like you did? Go to school, work three jobs, and make their lives better. Want to improve the educational system? Do some research, identify the failings and improve them. Want your belly fat to go away? Eat right and exercise. What we don’t do, is make children responsible for the change we want for them. We, as adults, need to do some “adulting” and realize that tragedies like this are preventable. Get a legitimate threat assessment from an FBI field agent? Make damn sure that the report gets filed and acted on quickly. Not enough agents to do that? That isn’t the fault of our children, that’s OUR fault. We need to make sure the FBI is well staffed and equipped – not beleaguered by the President of the United States for doing their job. But that brings me to my most controversial point, I am sure.
It is 2018; the 21st century. In some books written by science fiction writers, we are supposed to be in flying cars and transporting ourselves throughout the world [oh, and having artificial intelligence that just, y’know, gets us]. And still, there is a loud minority who feel like they need to “exercise their 2nd amendment right to bear arms.” This isn’t a necessity anymore. You personally don’t have to take up arms against your government or outside invaders because we have a volunteer military (and the best armed one in the world for that matter) to do it for us. Statistics clearly show that, in terms of protection, it is worse to have a gun than it is to NOT have one. By that I mean, a gun in a house with children triples the likelihood the child will be injured or killed by it. It is also statistically significant that a homeowner with a gun is more likely to be shot with the gun than shoot an intruder. All of these statistics, by the way, refer to handgun ownership. There is zero need for an assault weapon like the ones used in nearly all of the school shootings [and specifically the most deadly: Columbine, Newtown and Parkland]. You don’t have to hunt for your own food (you WANT to hunt for your own food). By the way, if you are using an assault weapon to hunt, Jesus Christ, they are vulnerable enough without hitting them with a goddamn multi-shot cannon. If you’re trying to impress someone, kill them with just a knife. But in that case, even a sweet –faced deer will kick your ass. Sorry, I got a little emotional there – not my intent. The bottom line is the 2nd Amendment of the Bill of Rights is obsolete as written. Similar to the 15th amendment which was adopted to modify voting rights so that all men, former slaves included, could vote (and then some 50 years later amended [19th ]) to allow women to vote.
This is rhetorical, I know, because Americans have a hard-on for weapons. But we have to stop saying we care about our children. We don’t. We are a selfish, capitalist-driven, self- involved society. We have our moments – 9/11, Oklahoma bombing, hurricanes and tsunamis and such – but the other 364 days of the year? Not so much. Need more evidence? The Child Health Insurance Program [CHIP] will go under-, if not un-, funded if we don’t act fast. If we truly cared about children, this wouldn’t even be a debate. Of course the 3 million children currently covered by CHIP would continue to be covered. But we don’t care about them, especially if they are brown, or someone else’s. However, military spending is expected to increase…again…to add a trillion dollars to the budget. That hasn’t been approved – or really even clarified. But we don’t care about children.
I see it with bullying. I read comments after a child has committed suicide as a result of being hounded day after day, in school and out of school, by a bully. The comments often talk about toughening up our children. Toughening up our 6 year olds? Toughening up our 11 years olds? Instead of telling us how tormented you were as an awkward adolescent by an equally awkward and scared adolescent and made it through, why not do something to prevent the pain the child is going through instead of telling them to, pop the bully a good one and it will stop [which by the way, anecdotal evidence aside, doesn’t work]. But again, what the hell are you talking about? They have been on this planet for maybe 10 years, able to eat on their own for roughly 8 and have only begun to be able to express themselves with any sort of clarity for maybe 6. And we want them to be toughened up to deal with a child who is, most likely, dealing with their own abuse and sense of powerlessness in the only way they know how, by taking control in other areas. Oh yeah, did I mention it is 2018? The 21st century? As a country who is supposed to be leading the world into a brighter future, aren’t we supposed to be teaching our children how to think better, and have higher, grander aspirations? But we can’t while large swaths of American society are oppressed, railed against and systematically kept from the golden ring; and large swaths of our country who don’t care about children. All children, not just their own. Especially when violence seems to be the only course of action for a lot of Americans (especially males but I am surprised by the number of female commenters on Facebook and other social media sites and the vitriol coming out of what is supposed to be the more nurturing gender – good for you ladies, you’ve become equal in men’s worst possible trait).
So, maybe this essay has taken a bit of a tangential run but the point is that we have been laying the demands of social change onto the mantle of our children for decades. It is inappropriate. It was inappropriate when we had a little Black girl striding between lines of loud angry racists to get into her school and it was inappropriate when we had little girls with “pussy hats” on and signs that screamed for equality and it is inappropriate now when it should be the adults standing up for children and saying enough is enough, I don’t need an assault rifle, I will not buy one, I will ask stores to stop stocking them and then the only people who will buy them is law enforcement and the military [and apparently if our President has anything to say about it, school districts to arm their teachers (What the f**k?)].
I know that it is a ridiculous prospect because as long as there is money to buy them, the gun makers will manufacture them. This isn’t about criminals still getting a hold of an assault weapon – this is about seeing a better future without weapons, a future where everyone can walk around without the threat of being shot and a future where the people who feel they need one to protect themselves can live in a world where they don’t have to worry.
When shaping the Western, Judeo-Christian society, school became the epicenter. When the class system and factory work was growing the backbone of the America we have today, preparing factory workers with basic literacy skills and, you guessed it, schools, became the epicenter. By the way, we traditionally sit in rows because in garment factories the workers sit in…you guessed it…rows. 50 years and Dewey later, small table groups and similar configurations became more common. Back to the topic, when society was desegregating, school became the epicenter and a young Black girl, Ruby Bridge, was the first Black child at an all-white elementary school in Louisiana. When obesity became a national health epidemic, school menus became the focus of social change and celebrities and the wife of a President came to the “rescue”. Again, school became the focus of social change and children were the pawns in a political game of chess. But this is completely inappropriate. Children ought to be the beneficiary of the efforts of their parents and other adults, not the mechanism of change.
And that brings me to the point of this essay. Soon after the Parkland attack, some of the students from the high school were interviewed and this media attention became the crux of the difference between Parkland and all the other school shootings; the targets of the shooter were alive, angry and speaking out. Lots of adults are on board and proud of the students but I am not among them. Don’t get me wrong, I am proud of the bravery and courage to speak out clearly and angrily within days of coming face to face with death but I am completely ashamed of the adults who have stood by for almost four decades and have done nothing about the accessibility of guns in general but specifically, assault weapons.
Despite what people like Dan Rather have to say on this topic, being the vehicle for change is not a kid’s job. Being the impetus or driving force for change is a kid’s job. Want the world a better place for your children or grandchildren or, heaven forbid, just children in general? Be the change. I don’t own a handgun, I won’t own a handgun and you won’t bring your handgun into my home. I’m not on the street advocating against gun ownership [mostly because I know it won’t work], but I am being the change I want to see. Going on, don’t want your child to grow up impoverished like you did? Go to school, work three jobs, and make their lives better. Want to improve the educational system? Do some research, identify the failings and improve them. Want your belly fat to go away? Eat right and exercise. What we don’t do, is make children responsible for the change we want for them. We, as adults, need to do some “adulting” and realize that tragedies like this are preventable. Get a legitimate threat assessment from an FBI field agent? Make damn sure that the report gets filed and acted on quickly. Not enough agents to do that? That isn’t the fault of our children, that’s OUR fault. We need to make sure the FBI is well staffed and equipped – not beleaguered by the President of the United States for doing their job. But that brings me to my most controversial point, I am sure.
It is 2018; the 21st century. In some books written by science fiction writers, we are supposed to be in flying cars and transporting ourselves throughout the world [oh, and having artificial intelligence that just, y’know, gets us]. And still, there is a loud minority who feel like they need to “exercise their 2nd amendment right to bear arms.” This isn’t a necessity anymore. You personally don’t have to take up arms against your government or outside invaders because we have a volunteer military (and the best armed one in the world for that matter) to do it for us. Statistics clearly show that, in terms of protection, it is worse to have a gun than it is to NOT have one. By that I mean, a gun in a house with children triples the likelihood the child will be injured or killed by it. It is also statistically significant that a homeowner with a gun is more likely to be shot with the gun than shoot an intruder. All of these statistics, by the way, refer to handgun ownership. There is zero need for an assault weapon like the ones used in nearly all of the school shootings [and specifically the most deadly: Columbine, Newtown and Parkland]. You don’t have to hunt for your own food (you WANT to hunt for your own food). By the way, if you are using an assault weapon to hunt, Jesus Christ, they are vulnerable enough without hitting them with a goddamn multi-shot cannon. If you’re trying to impress someone, kill them with just a knife. But in that case, even a sweet –faced deer will kick your ass. Sorry, I got a little emotional there – not my intent. The bottom line is the 2nd Amendment of the Bill of Rights is obsolete as written. Similar to the 15th amendment which was adopted to modify voting rights so that all men, former slaves included, could vote (and then some 50 years later amended [19th ]) to allow women to vote.
This is rhetorical, I know, because Americans have a hard-on for weapons. But we have to stop saying we care about our children. We don’t. We are a selfish, capitalist-driven, self- involved society. We have our moments – 9/11, Oklahoma bombing, hurricanes and tsunamis and such – but the other 364 days of the year? Not so much. Need more evidence? The Child Health Insurance Program [CHIP] will go under-, if not un-, funded if we don’t act fast. If we truly cared about children, this wouldn’t even be a debate. Of course the 3 million children currently covered by CHIP would continue to be covered. But we don’t care about them, especially if they are brown, or someone else’s. However, military spending is expected to increase…again…to add a trillion dollars to the budget. That hasn’t been approved – or really even clarified. But we don’t care about children.
I see it with bullying. I read comments after a child has committed suicide as a result of being hounded day after day, in school and out of school, by a bully. The comments often talk about toughening up our children. Toughening up our 6 year olds? Toughening up our 11 years olds? Instead of telling us how tormented you were as an awkward adolescent by an equally awkward and scared adolescent and made it through, why not do something to prevent the pain the child is going through instead of telling them to, pop the bully a good one and it will stop [which by the way, anecdotal evidence aside, doesn’t work]. But again, what the hell are you talking about? They have been on this planet for maybe 10 years, able to eat on their own for roughly 8 and have only begun to be able to express themselves with any sort of clarity for maybe 6. And we want them to be toughened up to deal with a child who is, most likely, dealing with their own abuse and sense of powerlessness in the only way they know how, by taking control in other areas. Oh yeah, did I mention it is 2018? The 21st century? As a country who is supposed to be leading the world into a brighter future, aren’t we supposed to be teaching our children how to think better, and have higher, grander aspirations? But we can’t while large swaths of American society are oppressed, railed against and systematically kept from the golden ring; and large swaths of our country who don’t care about children. All children, not just their own. Especially when violence seems to be the only course of action for a lot of Americans (especially males but I am surprised by the number of female commenters on Facebook and other social media sites and the vitriol coming out of what is supposed to be the more nurturing gender – good for you ladies, you’ve become equal in men’s worst possible trait).
So, maybe this essay has taken a bit of a tangential run but the point is that we have been laying the demands of social change onto the mantle of our children for decades. It is inappropriate. It was inappropriate when we had a little Black girl striding between lines of loud angry racists to get into her school and it was inappropriate when we had little girls with “pussy hats” on and signs that screamed for equality and it is inappropriate now when it should be the adults standing up for children and saying enough is enough, I don’t need an assault rifle, I will not buy one, I will ask stores to stop stocking them and then the only people who will buy them is law enforcement and the military [and apparently if our President has anything to say about it, school districts to arm their teachers (What the f**k?)].
I know that it is a ridiculous prospect because as long as there is money to buy them, the gun makers will manufacture them. This isn’t about criminals still getting a hold of an assault weapon – this is about seeing a better future without weapons, a future where everyone can walk around without the threat of being shot and a future where the people who feel they need one to protect themselves can live in a world where they don’t have to worry.