Dear Friends,
My first reaction to hearing of the school shooting in Uvalde was to go tense and queasy. Having run an elementary school for more than two decades, my first thoughts were “not again, dear Lord why and what if”? What if that were my school? Those were my kids? Whenever violence would erupt in a school I would always think “are we doing enough to keep the kids safe”?
I remember well those last few days of school. Class parties, awards, report cards and excitement over the upcoming summer break. No one is thinking about their school becoming a killing field. But someone has to be thinking that in order to prevent it from happening.
You don't want to run a school like you would a prison. So balancing security and schooling required a lot of thought and planning. Making sure the campus was secure, hardening the target as they say, training staff and conducting disaster drills all were necessary to create a safe physical environment. We did all those things and each year reviewed them and made changes where needed. And there were plenty of planning sessions and training events with every level of law enforcement. So, we could be ready for something we never wanted to happen.
And I resented doing all those things. Why do we have to? How did it become so dangerous? I was a child who walked back and forth to grade school for eight years. Is all this “progress” really progress when basic safety is no longer a sure thing? So what if we have microwaves, internet, Netflix and Face Book? If we can’t do the most basic thing adults should do, keep children safe, then to what end all the progress?
As we all have learned over the last 20years since Columbine, the solutions are simple but not very easy to achieve. And to arrive at good solid solutions requires consensus. And consensus requires good leadership that can unite despite differing opinions. And that we do not have and have not had for some time. Right on queue the usual chorus of vilification rises up, point the finger, assign blame, inflame emotions and arrive at no solution.
If you remember back to the Address to the Nation Ronald Regan gave after the explosion of the Challenger space shuttle, it was one of the most brilliant speeches of all time. It lifted us all up out of our horror and reminded us that the astronauts were striving for greatness and so could we all. It was comforting, reassuring and helped direct our grief by reminding us of our common humanity and the need to work together.
The list of symptoms that need to be treated to prevent the incubation of a young mass murderer are long. Mental health issues, family breakdown, fatherlessness, mind altering chemicals, social alienation, technology addiction, social media that breeds negativity and low self-worth, anger and radicalized thinking, access to firearms by those who shouldn't have access. And that is just a partial list.
It can be done if we can all agree that the protection of our children has to come first. Which means we have to be willing to do what it takes, make compromises and start working together.
You’re probably thinking, in today’s hyperpartisan environment not much will probably change. But we also have to remember that we are the adults in the room and we need to stand up and protect our kids regardless of what may or may not be politically possible.
The children killed and wounded in Uvalde are our children. The 18year old killer was also our child. We adults failed them both. Love,
Fr. John B.
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