Kids should wonder if adults care for them
The massacre of children in Uvalde, Texas, created a tsunami of anxiety, uncertainty and fear. Will children be receptive to a discussion of our culture? What are their feelings and emotions after they witnessed multiple mass shootings in the same month? Might they inquire if the adult world around them cares at all, or has any interest in doing what is necessary to stop the national shooting gallery we all inhabit?
Any “discussion” with schoolchildren might begin with these inquiries accompanied by empathetic listening as their anxieties are expressed. Their fear of attending school, of guns, of being away from home will require continual support from their families and their communities, sadly in a nation that idolizes weapons and considers shootings an acceptable risk sustaining a “right” invented in 1791.
Adults continually hearing pleas for sensible gun control must engage with their children in a mutual effort not to yield to fear, inaction, intimidation or powerful interests but to recommit with hope and fervor. Parents should engage their child in a family activity: writing letters or sharing what they can do together positively to change the horrific events in which we find ourselves. Engaging their children in overcoming fear and trauma is to confront the evil they have suffered through no fault of their own, and to confront the evil through some action on whatever level a child is capable of. Whatever the religion or belief, parents can reaffirm the innate goodness in mankind to love God and serve others. There are countless examples to point to. Talking about the many good things people have done and do daily creates a positive hopeful environment and discourages fear. Parents of those most affected can begin by telling those stories, the greatest of which have been about those whom we honor for their sacrifices each and every day. Children have always been at the lead through their trust and willingness to help someone else.
This could be our opportunity to emulate the spirit of the Greatest Generation and commit to the sacrifice, time, effort and actions necessary to create a national environment where we could attend school, worship, shop and recreate without fear of being killed by people exercising their “Second Amendment right.”
Then, and only then, could we sing with pride and feeling Irving Berlin’s hymn “God Bless America.”
FRANK FERRONE