This year alone, more than 30 people have been killed, and more than 40 have been injured in school shootings. How many more innocent school children will die before we solve this complex problem? Is there a possible solution to this tragic problem? After each shooting, there is a flood of talk about changing gun laws, but only the death rate changes. It’s true that guns and rifles don’t kill people. Psychotic people using guns and rifles murder countless students. There’s no end in sight. What are we to do?
As a grandparent and former teacher, I frequently feel like climbing the nearest mountain and screaming: “The horrific killing of our children must stop now forever!” We can no longer stick our heads in the sand and pretend there is no viable solution.
Will the solution cost money? Yes. Will we have to change the way we think as a society? Yes, in some ways, but aren’t the lives of our children worth it? Don’t we have to recognize the red flags we see? Isn’t it better to be safe than sorry?
After I taught for thirty-three years, I missed teaching and helping students. Consequently, I became a tutor for suspended students where I could help them catch up on assignments, and gently counsel them. Did I ever see any red flags? Yes.
For example, I was tutoring a second grader (with emotional problems) at his home who liked drawing. In our first meeting, I knew that I must establish good rapport with him as soon as possible. When he showed me a perfectly innocent drawing, I quickly complimented his artistic skills. Then he asked if I wanted to see more. Of course, I agreed.
Matt (name changed) ran to his bedroom and returned with a bundle of 50 xerox copies of drawings he had completed. Each picture had a different way of killing one of his classmates. Why? Because a classmate told him that he was a terrible drawer. I was glad that I complimented Matt’s work, and I now understood why I was assigned to help him. That is one quick red flag example.
Could a teacher walk into any school in September and plug in a comprehensive program that thinks outside the Ban Guns Box? Maybe. My solution involves doing many things better as a society, and it would call for numerous changes. The odds would be heavily stacked against a teacher, due to: deadbeat fathers, deadbeat mothers, opiated parents, kids using drugs, lack of respect for all human beings, rat-infested homes, falling apart schools, student gangs, lack of textbooks, shortage of materials, missing students, lack of two resource officers in each school, lack of metal detectors, inadequate rules to own a gun, short waiting periods, lack of quality communication between police stations about red flag students.
Certainly, more money is needed to help eliminate the mass murder of our children. This would include higher wages for school personnel, kitchen staff workers, secretaries, custodians, and nurses. More money is needed for mental services. All staff members should strive to make a difference in their school each day.
We have a thick web of problems that need to be dealt with effectively. What needs to be done? Work-related education in high school is needed, respect for blue collar jobs, more career days, higher pay for teachers, easier ways to remove incompetent teachers, more guest speakers, more laughter, more author visits, schools, more authentic teachers more parent volunteers, more hands-on-activities, and no cell phones, except for last period.
We need in our society more idealism, less victim-hood-ism, the rebirth of the work ethic, less pity-me-ism, teens involved with hospitals, caring centers, nursing homes, and business. We need more mentors, youth religious outreach programs, and help feeding the poor. Speaking as a poet and educator, we need a flood of creative writing to discover the nature of one’s hurts and soul. Yes, some aspects of my heartfelt suggestions are expensive, but aren’t our children worth it?
Shouldn’t we think outside the Ban the Guns Box, and create ways to afford these expenditures? How long can we keep our heads in the sand? Six times as many people are killed by knives as guns. Should we outlaw knives? We need to make society better, more prosperous, and more loving. We should value diversity and our neighbors while fostering the good in others and ourselves. It takes a whole village with wide open eyes on this drastic situation, and hands to help.
Click to discover one red flag that I had to acknowledge to prevent a possible death.