If you’re reading this on the Internet, then you’ve probably been inundated with information from all sides about the shooting in a grade school in Newtown, Connecticut yesterday. Personally, I think it was disgusting. And I’m not just talking about what happened inside the school.
Immediately afterward, news reporters and camera crews arrived on the scene to “gather information”, which entailed a lot of pictures and videos of emotionally distraught parents, teachers, children… the pain on their faces was very real. Reading that kids were being interviewed just after their friends were killed makes me sick to my stomach. Yes, you want to get “the scoop”, but from five-year-olds who were scared for their lives, hearing screams coming through the intercom and seeing that kind of slaughter? Not cool. Not cool at all.
And then other people jumped at the chance to push their own political agendas. “Gun control!” “Stop trying to take away our guns!” “Without guns, this couldn’t have happened!” Yes, it could have happened. Do we have too many guns in this country? Maybe, but taking them away isn’t going to solve the problem. If someone breaks into a school with a big knife, is that somehow better? He didn’t have a gun, so it’s okay? Most objects are potentially lethal. The problem isn’t the object—it’s the person holding it. Some reports say the killer had a history of mental illness, so maybe we should quit bitching about gun control and look at ways to help people who think they should do something like this in the first place.
But you know what else happened yesterday? A lot of kids got some extra hugs from their parents. There’s no way we should dismiss the tragedy that happened and the pain that community is feeling right now, but give your kids some extra hugs. Remember the importance of life, of love, of family. Flags flying at half mast seems like a hollow gesture to me, so if you really want to show some respect for the people of Newtown, let your kids know how much they mean to you and give them some extra hugs.
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Good God. I’m not adding this to apologize for saying that the problem springs from something beyond gun control, but when someone suggests that people with autism lack empathy and that’s why it happened… there are not enough teeth in that man’s head to knock out. His opinion is biased, it’s offensive, and it’s wrong. Autism doesn’t push people over the edge into crazy. Show some respect for auties and Aspies, too, would you?
