See if you can spot the problem. Read This story on the Uvalde shooter's mom.
For the last five years, maybe more, I've written blogs describing how young people are being raised without any sort of personal accountability for their actions. Helicopter parenting was a manifestation of this, with parents intervening at every turn to prevent their child from every suffering any consequences for their bad choices. When you start in Pre-K to soften every blow and refuse to let children learn how to function on their own, you risk building an adult who has no feelings for anyone but themselves.
The shooter's mother, who no doubt has her own burden to carry, says we shouldn't judge her murderous son. But that's the problem with out society at large. We expunge criminals if they give the "correct" political group traction on their narratives. Why should we not judge the teachers who refuse to abide by basic security protocols? Why should we not blame police for not going in? Why should we not blame the Biden administration for lockdowns that have resulted in record teen suicides? The exclaim "Don't Judge" needs to be put to rest. A person who hurts another deserves blame.
We've seen many of these shootings. We've also see way too many politicians jump on their automated bandwagons to get their share of demographics. Let me just say here, no matter what message Beto O Rourke and his followers think he was delivering, a news conference intending to give crucial information and to inform the public is not the place to do it. Beto epitomizes what I despise in the Left. Children are dead and he's crowning himself with the attention. Shameful and disgusting.
We have guns in our home. My husband is licensed in Texas and had to undergo background checks and had to wait as do all other lawful gunowners in Texas. Criminals and psychopaths won't go through these channels. But if it makes people "feel" better go ahead and raise the age to purchase a gun to 21. While you're at it, raise the age to vote back to 21 as well, because if you aren't sober and sane enough to own a gun, you have no business voting. But don't be surprised if down the road some other young psychopath decides to blow things up or become a pyromaniac because people inclined to kill don't really care much how they do it.
Background checks are fine, but unfortunately they often don't delve into sealed juvenile records. I'm tired of juvenile criminals having their slate swept clean so they can continue a reign of terror all over again. I'm also tired of mentally ill teens being treated on an impersonal "medicate and release" protocol which does little but give them more drugs that they can trade for far more dangerous street drugs. We have too few beds for the mentally ill. Back in the day liberals thought mental hospitals were bad, that they unfairly restricted the mentally ill. But now we have mentally ill among us, many are homeless, and some are bounced in and out of jails and hospital wards until they die or kill someone else. It is not cruel to put someone in a facility that keeps them from harming themselves or others, but under the laws today police are unable to do anything until someone gets hurt.
Many will say this is not a topic that a teacher or former teacher should debate, but it does have serious impact on society in that it impacts our youngest citizens. As a teacher I've had students who were deeply disturbed. I've had kids on Thorazine, kids with ankle monitors and one kid escorted into class by an assistant principal who whispered "Just don't make him mad." I've had students so menacing I was afraid of them. I've had students openly planning chaos and violence. And this was in a "good" school. We have a generation of kids who are not all bad, but there are enough growing up without morals or ethics that they come across as almost feral. If I am casting doubt on safety, imagine how children feel.
There are many ways to change this story. First, have armed resource officers on duty every day, all day. The resource officer was gone from Robb Elementary in Uvalde, which I find a strange coincidence. Second, lock all doors leading outside and only have one monitored entrance. At Robb Elementary someone propped open the door near the Teachers' parking lot. I've stumbled across similar things and one time when going up to work during the weekend, I called the police when I found a door propped open. These seems like small things, but they make a huge impact. Third, have staff fully trained under the Guardian programs or something similar. Shooters want to be the center of interest and they will avoid armed buildings. This would help schools stay safer.
As for society, we've got to stop thinking that laying blame is the end of the world and that nobody should ever be judged for their actions. The Don't Judge mantra needs to go away. It should never be taught to children and certainly should be used by adults.
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