So many things flooded my mind this past week as I continued
to pray about the recent school shooting.
In my opinion, all the bickering and fighting going on is not
helpful. Placing blame on this one or
that one won’t keep it from happening again.
There is enough blame for all of us.
I was disheartened by the Oscars and the message they tried to portray. A first step toward protecting our schools, as
I’ve mentioned before, is to make sure all schools have safety measures in
place. When I think of all the money these
celebrities have and how far it could go to help make schools safer, I cringe. Blaming the NRA solely is counterproductive. These people don’t want to help, they want to
complain. They want to make political
statements and push agendas. I would
love for someone with influence to step up and ask, how can I help?
Changing the mind set of society should be a top
priority. I have never read any of the
Hunger Games books. When I saw the first
movie, I had no idea what it was about.
I’ll never forget the way I felt when I walked out of the theater that
day. There are many facets to the story
and I’m sure the books are great to read, but all I remember is hunting and killing
children. All my students loved the
books and the movie. Not everyone was
negatively affected by the Hunger Games, but it only takes one to set off a
disaster. Violent video games give kids
a warped sense of reality. Adults should
pay more attention to what their children are “playing” with. It would be helpful to at least talk with
your kids about the differences between the game and reality. I know from experience how many kids can watch
streaming movies without any supervision.
I have walked in on movies my husband is watching and leave the room
because it was too graphic and bloody. I’m
not sure young people realize death is forever.
A 5th grade student who had been shot in the shoulder told me
he never knew it would hurt so much.
Wake up call! Talk to kids about these things. Fight back against all the violence in
entertainment. Young minds are being
influenced more than anyone knows.
It’s understandable that some immediately decided it’s time
to arm teachers. Understandable, but a
ridiculous idea. I’m not against arming select
school personnel. It might be smart to
do away with gun free zone signs and make a shooter think twice before going
into a school. However, the trauma of a
real intruder is hard on students. The
last thing they need to see is their teacher holding a gun and possibly
shooting someone. The teacher’s job
should be to stay calm, keep the students calm, and to make them feel
safe. The best way to insure this
happens is to have drills. We must take
a common sense stand to help solve the current problems. We shouldn’t wait for the government to fix things
we can do as a community. Being honest
and talking to kids about reality doesn’t have to be a terrible thing. My prayer is that all schools receive funding
for safety equipment. I also pray we can
stop digging for the negative in everything and start being confident we can do
our part to help. I pray for those in authority to make decisions prayerfully
and thoughtfully. Money can not replace
young lives. Keep your eyes on the big
picture and find a way to make a difference.
Then He spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to
pray and not lose heart, Luke 8: 1
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