Time to talk...
As usual, in the wake of Newtown, there has been a lot of blah blahing on FB about gun control, putting God back into school, and other various "let's fix this" items. And at the risk of losing friends, I have a few things to say about that.
First yes, Newtown was a tragedy. I lost my father in June of this year and honestly, I didn't want to talk about or anything. I still don't. I can't imagine what losing your 6 year old would be like. I don't want to imagine it, but for the love of Pete, please leave those people alone. That's all I'm going to say about that.
The first thing I heard was "get rid of all the guns". Um, I don't think that's the answer. Since only the honest, law abiding citizens would actually turn in their guns. I consider myself to be an honest law abiding citizen and I wouldn't give up mine. So now I'm a baddie with a gun. Not saying I'm perfect - but I don't exactly fit into that category either.
Arm the teachers. If a teacher goes through the training and feels comfortable having a gun around kids I don't see a problem with this. I'm getting my teaching degree, but I wouldn't ever carry a gun to school. There's already too much going on in a classroom of 30 kids. I couldn't imagine trying to keep track of a weapon too. To me, this one is kind of like the abortion question - while I would never have one, I would never tell anyone they couldn't.
Armed guards at schools. Since I just recently saw this one I haven't really given it much thought. I suppose it could work - but how many would have to be there to cover every area of the school? Or are we just putting one in the front to stop anyone from coming through the front door? How's this guy getting paid? From an underfunded school budget? Let's teach the kids less so we can pay for this guy? Yeah, I'll have to think about that one some more.
Put God back into school. I have a problem with this. I believe in God. But I don't think He belongs in school. I homeschool and we rarely talk about God or religion unless it comes up in our history lesson. For too many years, thousands of years, people have been fighting and dying over religion and God. Which I don't think anyone's god ever condoned. I do believe that people need to treat each other with respect and behave like civilized people. Treat others as you want to be treated - the Golden Rule. That falls on the parents (or whomever is raising the kids). We don't go to church, but honestly, my son knows more about being kind than most of the kids who do attend church. Being a good person is not dependent on whether you walk into a building a few times a week.
For good measure - bring back corporal punishment. I never was paddled in school, but my parents signed the consent every year - and honestly, it made me think twice about doing anything out of line. Knowing that whatever the principal was going to dole out was only the start, because I would have gotten it when I got home too!
Is there any one answer? No, there's not. But the reality is unless we can all sit down and talk like grown ups nothing will happen. Well, something will happen, but what that will be may not be what everyone wants, or even the best long term answer. It will just be knee-jerk reaction. And let's face it, that always ends up badly.
First yes, Newtown was a tragedy. I lost my father in June of this year and honestly, I didn't want to talk about or anything. I still don't. I can't imagine what losing your 6 year old would be like. I don't want to imagine it, but for the love of Pete, please leave those people alone. That's all I'm going to say about that.
The first thing I heard was "get rid of all the guns". Um, I don't think that's the answer. Since only the honest, law abiding citizens would actually turn in their guns. I consider myself to be an honest law abiding citizen and I wouldn't give up mine. So now I'm a baddie with a gun. Not saying I'm perfect - but I don't exactly fit into that category either.
Arm the teachers. If a teacher goes through the training and feels comfortable having a gun around kids I don't see a problem with this. I'm getting my teaching degree, but I wouldn't ever carry a gun to school. There's already too much going on in a classroom of 30 kids. I couldn't imagine trying to keep track of a weapon too. To me, this one is kind of like the abortion question - while I would never have one, I would never tell anyone they couldn't.
Armed guards at schools. Since I just recently saw this one I haven't really given it much thought. I suppose it could work - but how many would have to be there to cover every area of the school? Or are we just putting one in the front to stop anyone from coming through the front door? How's this guy getting paid? From an underfunded school budget? Let's teach the kids less so we can pay for this guy? Yeah, I'll have to think about that one some more.
Put God back into school. I have a problem with this. I believe in God. But I don't think He belongs in school. I homeschool and we rarely talk about God or religion unless it comes up in our history lesson. For too many years, thousands of years, people have been fighting and dying over religion and God. Which I don't think anyone's god ever condoned. I do believe that people need to treat each other with respect and behave like civilized people. Treat others as you want to be treated - the Golden Rule. That falls on the parents (or whomever is raising the kids). We don't go to church, but honestly, my son knows more about being kind than most of the kids who do attend church. Being a good person is not dependent on whether you walk into a building a few times a week.
For good measure - bring back corporal punishment. I never was paddled in school, but my parents signed the consent every year - and honestly, it made me think twice about doing anything out of line. Knowing that whatever the principal was going to dole out was only the start, because I would have gotten it when I got home too!
Is there any one answer? No, there's not. But the reality is unless we can all sit down and talk like grown ups nothing will happen. Well, something will happen, but what that will be may not be what everyone wants, or even the best long term answer. It will just be knee-jerk reaction. And let's face it, that always ends up badly.
Hey Kris- I love reading your blogs! I totally agree with you. I am not sure what the answer is, but gun control is not it. Maybe they should make it harder to get semi-automatic weapons, by making a longer waiting period and maybe having a physiological evaluation before buying the gun. I also think that this should be paid for by the person who is going to buy the gun, not by the government.
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