No legislation is going to sufficiently address these problems
- Bryan Schaaf
- March 5, 2018
- 1401
I’ve purposefully not addressed my beliefs in print form on America’s ever-growing gun violence issues among young people.
As one who generally prefers to avoid intentionally agitating folks, it just seemed prudent. And if I am knowingly going to poke the collective rage of an entire population’s group thought, well, by golly I’d better have real conviction with what I write.
But as I sit here more than a week after yet another school shooting — one where the blame clearly lies on many, many individuals in our communities, our classrooms, our political action groups and our government — I only really have one thought that I firmly believe to be true.
And with apologies to the folks who are going to choose the path of being offended at reading something they don’t like, here goes:
Parents, get your act together. Seriously. You want to fix 99 percent of all the problems in the world? Spend some time with your children. Know them better than you know yourself.
In every school shooting going back to Columbine — a site I recently visited while on business in Denver — all the signs of a young person with a troubled mind were evident. But no one really took the time to notice. Or at least to consider those signs with any real seriousness.
This is, time and time again, a parenting failure above all else.
As parents we’ve collectively forgotten our children come first. We are a generation that has selfishly pursued our own wants and desires at the expense of time with our children. We are a generation of parents that believes we deserve date nights and week-long vacations away from the kids. And during those times when we are present with our children, we are the generation that immediately rests on pacification to remedy a whiny child.
Don’t believe me? How many times have you just handed your kid the iPad to keep them busy or allowed them to watch TV or play video games for hours on end because, well, at least the house is peaceful?
And that’s not even mentioning a lack of overall monitoring the types of media our children are digesting.
I am a First Amendment guy through and through, but with rights comes responsibilities. And if we are going to freely allow violent video games, risque network television shows and music with questionable themes and lyrics to exist in the mainstream, it’s our job as parents to control what enters our kids’ eyes and ears.
But we don’t do that anymore. We’re too wrapped up in our own adult lives with our own adult drama and our own adult plans to take the time to notice our kids might be wavering from the rails.
You can debate gun accessibility 'til you’re blue in the face. You all can argue about the NRA, the gun-free school zones, politicians taking kickbacks from whoever and the government’s overall failure all day long.
But there’s no legislation that’s going to sufficiently address these problems. That needs to start at home. Parents, let’s get it together.