A 17 year old walked into the front office and shot the vice-principal and principal. You know, since we moved to Littleton and I began teaching students who were graduates of Columbine, school shootings have been an object of discussion among my classes. They come up once or twice a year - moreso when one happens elsewhere in the world.
I've considered them as a student. As a teacher. But today I'm struck with the consideration of them as a parent.
To be fair, we don't know much about this kid yet. We've seen his smiling yearbook pictures and the media has dug up some of his friends who told us how normal he was.
And yet, there's nothing normal about walking into a school and taking the life of a vice-principal - a woman whose life was dedicated to enriching the lives of students just like him.
I'm just gobsmacked, really. And, as a parent, a bit terrified. What do I do to ensure that my kids won't ever consider that the solution to a problem?
Do I commit to living in a home without guns? I know, I know, guns don't kill people. But people with guns are more likely to kill people than, say, people with knives or baseball bats. Knives and bats have a purpose other than the destruction of life - guns symbolize and function for the sole purpose of destroying life. Gun owners often say they aren't willing to draw their weapon if they aren't willing to kill someone with it. But what's that saying if you're willing to own one? That you are willing, at some point, to draw it - to kill someone? I don't know. I'll not be in the forefront of the "BAN THEM" mob, nor will I be in the "God given right" group. I'm confused on guns - but I wonder what sort of message their very presence in our lives sends our kids.
Do I stay up in my kids' mix? It seems like this kid's parents weren't fools - and were trying to do right by him. What happens when you do right by your kids and that ends up being the wrong thing? We all make mistakes like that as parents, don't we? When my Dad was teaching me to dive, an arguably essential skill (though having never really acquired it, I can't tell you how important it really was) for swimming - he tried to do right by me and tell me how to do it. The end result was that I threw my legs out behind me and fell right into the edge of the pool, scraping myself from thigh to kneecap and earning some most excellent bruises. My point? We make those mistakes all the time as parents - doing what we think is best and ultimately doing what's worst.
I don't know. I'm confused. I can't "Tell you something" today, because I don't have anything to tell. A friend of mine posted a status update on Facebook yesterday about this being a senseless - and ultimately nonpunishable crime. The kid delivered his own punishment. I'm just sorry he felt he had to do any of it at all - and I'm unwilling to wipe my hands together and say "Well, that's someone else's mess."
Because it could very well be our mess one day, especially if we don't figure out where it came from.
People with knives are much more likely to kill people then, say people with fists. And people with fists are much more likely to kill someone then say, people without arms.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, people with guns are much more likley to be able to kill people without guns than they are likely to kill people with guns.
When you figure out how to get the guns away from the criminals, than us non criminals are much more likely to be able to entertain the idea of setting them aside as well.
Reducing the sheer number of available weapons would be a start, wouldn't it? Thus reducing the availability of illegal weapons? How easy is it to get a gun in, say, New Zealand?
ReplyDeleteAnd regarding the armed being "safer", doesn't the research show that two weapons drawn ups the ante - an armed criminal becomes more likely, not less likely, to fire their weapon when one is drawn on them.
Further, and perhaps most importantly, you'll note that my discussion of guns wasn't "There oughta be a law" but philosophical as a parent - it was "What does this show my son and daughers". In other words - what do I learn from this - what do I incorporate into my dailiness - not what new legislation can I pass.
I think it's perfectly acceptable to see a moral gray area regarding gun ownership and decide that, for yourself, you're going to stand on one island while others are rightfully elsewhere. I live in that gray area on, say, the abortion argument. Do I think it's wrong? In many, many cases. Not all. Do I stand at the forefront of protecting it as a right of our citizens? Absolutely. Ultimately that decision needs to be made by the person themselves.
What I struggle with here is, as a parent, the philosophical ramifications of guns - whether in the form of water guns or weapons stored in my home, when they show up in television and video games, however they appear in my children's lives. Hand guns themselves present a particularly difficult philosophical conundrum because, as opposed to hunting rifles (which carry with them the purpose of getting food to sustain life), handguns seem to have the sole purpose of the destruction of life.
While there are some in my society who should have that power, it is my personal philosophy that I should not - for the reasons I have stated.