The Day We Decided There Was An Acceptable Number of Children Dead....

As we woke up this morning we began another day with mourning and senseless loss of life. I wish I felt more but as a colleague suggested, this is our new normal. Our new normal includes being desensitized to school violence. I was in high school when Columbine happened. I was naive and thought that it would never happen again, an isolated incident. Now there have been hundreds, HUNDREDS, of shootings at schools. Sandy Hook damn near broke me. We were parents of a newborn. Surely, after that devastation, KINDERGARTNERS KILLED, we would do something. Things on February 15, 2018 are EXACTLY the same as they were then, as they were at Columbine. The "safety measures" we've taken at schools across the country are not working. At what point will be decide that enough children have died? When will we not instantly go to the straw man argument that "well the shooter was mentally ill" to cover up our own inequity? When will we decide that no other children should die while learning how to complete domino math? Of course many will discount my arguments and say, "blue liberal snowflake", "you'll never suspend my 2nd amendment rights", "guns don't kill people, people kill people." You're absolutely right, I am liberal, I frequently vote democrat. I also don't think I'll ever be able to suspend 2nd amendment rights. And in reality, even the 3rd statement is true at its basic tenant.

As a professor at a university now and with a child in school I often feel the trepidation of giving a student a well-deserved low grade because, what if? I worry that each day, perhaps my Kindergartner won't come home. Or one of her friends won't either. Even with our faith, our community, and our deep commitment to peace, I won't know what to do or how to explain that. Fast are the statistics that one of our children is likely to be harmed by gun violence. It's terrifying. Perhaps I won't come home because someone would rather KILL ME than repeat a course. THIS HAPPENS. 

I'm sad, I'm really sad. I used to be mad. Now I'm just sad and lost on how to be more active in preventing this.