Woke up to the news of the school massacre in Connecticut. I looked at news reports and after a while I had to stop reading.Sat down with a mug of coffee and took a long deep breath. So many small children murdered.
I couldn’t look at the frightening timeline around other recent massacres either. What does it mean when there is an intensifying pattern to senseless killings? What kind of society have we helped to create, what kind of global violence is escalating? And my heart bleeds for parents and teachers and traumatised children everywhere.
And as always there were those who did all they could to intervene and help, those who gave their lives. Those who will go on giving and trying to help in the face of powerlessness. That is where hope is to be found.
I too have felt such despair about this. I awoke at 3:30 AM, something I don’t usually do. Nothing about this event makes sense except disturbed people with guns can be lethal. So many children dead. A terrible thing that makes me wonder how many more mass shootings will occur before something is done to either enforce existing gun laws or get stricter ones. I would like to see all handguns and automatic weapons taken away. I see no need for the public to have those guns. When are we going to wake up?
Syd, I hear you — next to the United States, South Africa has the highest rate of gun-related violence in the world. We’re not a law-abiding First World democracy, America is described as being one. What shocks me is that there are nearly three hundred million privately owned firearms in the United States: a hundred and six million handguns, a hundred and five million rifles, and eighty-three million shotguns. That works out to about one gun for every American. Eleven of the worst 20 mass shootings globally have taken place in America.
It isn’t just about guns of course — there are also questions to do with mental health monitoring and school safety (teachers in our schools are armed, schools are barricaded and have armed guards, students are strip-searched for weapons and yet 58% of South African schoolchildren experienced gun violence last year) and the climate of escalating violence in the country. But last year there were 37 000 firearm homicides in the US as compared with 20 in the UK. And the UK banned civilian handguns after the Dunblane school massacre in 1996.
My fear is that it is too late for any kind of effective gun control in countries like South Africa or America, the non-compliance and lack of law-abiding co-operation is too great. The trafficking of guns into Mexico is too profitable, the gun shows make too much money, the militarism of a civilian population continues unchecked. But the pattern of gun-related violence spinning out of control is there all the same.
Yesterday I was in an all day training – “Mental Health First Aid” which is intended to help the public identify people throwing up red flags in the community (such as the ones by the Aurora Theater shooter in the days and weeks before the shooting). We were all stunned when we heard the news of the school shooting.
I truly don’t know what the answer is, but I do know that we live in a cruel society. We are inundated with messages that are disgusting if you think about them. Young girls are pressured to be “beautiful” and “sexy” – by glamorized fame-whores such as the Kardashians. Boys are supposed to be manly brutes. When we deviate from these, the pressure and bullying that follow are devastating. These killers are usually disenfranchised young men who think they have found a way to make their mark on the world, having failed in every other way.
And when there is a budget cut to be made, it always starts with mental health.
I could go on and on, but mainly I am just profoundly sad, this event seems to top them all for being horrific. I think it is a stain on all of humanity. These killers aren’t formed in a vacuum.
No, not in a vacuum, I agree Mary Christine. I’m so interested in what you say about mental health and social influences.
Hi, your writing is thoughtful. I have nominated your blog as a very inspiring blog.
http://facingfactsaboutmyself.wordpress.com/2012/12/16/very-inspiring-blogger-award/
Thanks, Paul
Thanks so much Paul, I do appreciate the gesture
Something needs to be done. When the shooting in Aurora occurred it seemed self-righteous to yell for stricter gun laws. But, this was just too much. enough is enough. no one needs an automatic rifle in their closet.