This is just the saddest - and those police need to be fired - including their commander, who told them not to enter the building. 10 year old children - innocent children. This country has gone to hell
Your words, your thoughts always carry the spark and the spirit of truth, of compassion, of wisdom. My generally hopeless and helpless thoughts begin to dissipate when I realize I am not alone. That others also desire a better, safer, and kinder world. Susanna, please keep writing. Thank you.
On this Memorial Day I propose that we add one more holiday. A holiday to remember all of the innocent victims of violence of any kind in this country. It should be called a National Day of Mourning and all flags should be flown at half staff.
Yes, this is another kind of war isn't it? And when you learn that more children died of gunfire yearly now than police officers and active military members.. it's all the more visceral.
No doubt such tragedy bleeds our heart but this will continue to recur! It is non stoppable. It is evident in the article how these incidences are multiplying. The people look at the leaders who does little for its prevention. Is there any emphasis on morality or is it known what morality is ? Each killer leaves behind his background as to how he was raised/reared or treated and why he resorted to such evil act?Collections of these and focussing on these, ways and means ought to be sought irrespective of race and religion to remedy this heinous act.
Thank you for your post. While I do believe that "thoughts and prayers" are good, ONLY thoughts and prayers, without action, seems to say that solutions are beyond human capability. Remember the book, "Everything I learned, I learned in kindergarten?". Well....God helps those who help themselves.
While everyone jumps on the gun issue, few people seem to consider the much deeper problem, a rot in society that is producing people with murder in their hearts. How can we have a society with teenagers so twisted in mind and heart by whatever their life experiences are, that they can take a weapon and kill their grandmother (in another incident, if I recall, the shooter first shot his mother) and then go on a rampage killing innocent children they don't even know, watching them cower in terror and then destroying their lives. Whether it's an automatic weapon, knives, cars, explosives, how do we create these killers? This isn't a rhetorical question. We need to know if we ever hope to do something about the loss of innocent lives that repeats like Groundhog Day.
Hi Anthony, agree, we need to understand this...I do think that there's so much free floating toxic violence tolerated here. It's the most disturbing thing about all this. Why would anyone do this? This guy not only shot his grandmother but people reported him for threatening teen girls with death and rape online. Interesting to note that 68 percent of all mass shootings are related to domestic violence, either because the perpetrator has a history of abusing partners and family members, or because the shooting itself was an act of domestic violence in that the people being killed had in intimate connection with the shooter, and often other people are taken down. And domestic violence has risen in the last few years which is usually a canary in the coal mine for additional violence. One thing that matters about the weapons, there are just so so many of them in the U.S. that impulses and moments of rage or depression turn deadly quickly. (And half of those gun deaths are suicide.) And easy access to weapon that can kill 20 people in 2 minutes and whose high-velocity bullets are so much more lethal because they cause so much more damage to the body, is certainly a factor. There's just a hugely disproportionate number of people that die in America versus any other G7 country where there are also angry disturbed people. Some believe that these assault rifles give angry violent-minded teens a sense of empowerment. They know that these are guns that even the cops are afraid to confront, as we saw tragically this week. They are at heart cowards. I'm just heartbroken about all of it, how it happened, who did it, and what we've lost. Thank you for your thoughtful comment.
Another retired teacher here. Thank you for your words today. I haven’t been able to stop crying since the tragedy. Our legislators are not taking care of us. The only way to make progress on gun laws is to vote the ones who don’t care about human life out of office.
Dear Sue, I can only imagine what these tragedies set off in your heart, it is unfathomable what teachers are being asked to do I've been undone by this story, children left to fend for themselves for so long after losing their teachers. I can't imagine the cruelty of telling at teacher to fight off a guy with an assault weapon when even the police are afraid to confront these things. Sending you hugs. I wish I had the words or ideas to change things, but other than voting, I don't know what to do. Yours, s
What an awful situation, all around. The loss of the children, the easy access to (near)-automatic weapons, the refusal of congressmen (and voters) to approve even modest restraints and checks on gun purchases, the difficulty in recognizing and getting adequate help for mentally disturbed people, the mistakes made by the police officer in charge... It's just hard to know what to say.
Thanks so much Jody, for your words and for being a teacher, in the first place. I totally understand what you're saying. Our future is nothing without teachers. Yours, s
This is just the saddest - and those police need to be fired - including their commander, who told them not to enter the building. 10 year old children - innocent children. This country has gone to hell
It's so dispiriting.... Sigh.
Your words, your thoughts always carry the spark and the spirit of truth, of compassion, of wisdom. My generally hopeless and helpless thoughts begin to dissipate when I realize I am not alone. That others also desire a better, safer, and kinder world. Susanna, please keep writing. Thank you.
Thanks for these words Charles, it means a lot. And yeah, I feel the same.
How about this: insanity is doing the same thing & expecting a different result...let's go two cycles of not voting for any Republican...try it!
I hear you. It feels like we're slowly going mad. I hope that safety advocates can keep this issue front and center in the fall for the elections.
Thank you so much for understanding. Don't you think that we all need a national day to honor and remember these victims?
Thank you. Your writing is always filled with truth and compassion.
Thanks for the kind words Bonita. This is a tough one.
On this Memorial Day I propose that we add one more holiday. A holiday to remember all of the innocent victims of violence of any kind in this country. It should be called a National Day of Mourning and all flags should be flown at half staff.
Yes, this is another kind of war isn't it? And when you learn that more children died of gunfire yearly now than police officers and active military members.. it's all the more visceral.
No doubt such tragedy bleeds our heart but this will continue to recur! It is non stoppable. It is evident in the article how these incidences are multiplying. The people look at the leaders who does little for its prevention. Is there any emphasis on morality or is it known what morality is ? Each killer leaves behind his background as to how he was raised/reared or treated and why he resorted to such evil act?Collections of these and focussing on these, ways and means ought to be sought irrespective of race and religion to remedy this heinous act.
Thanks for writing Naiyer. There are some interesting studies about just that. Here's what Politico rounded up on that topic: https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2022/05/27/stopping-mass-shooters-q-a-00035762
Thank you for your post. While I do believe that "thoughts and prayers" are good, ONLY thoughts and prayers, without action, seems to say that solutions are beyond human capability. Remember the book, "Everything I learned, I learned in kindergarten?". Well....God helps those who help themselves.
I don't think it's beyond human capability to do something, but it seems beyond America's... ahem. (Thanks for writing Johnny)
While everyone jumps on the gun issue, few people seem to consider the much deeper problem, a rot in society that is producing people with murder in their hearts. How can we have a society with teenagers so twisted in mind and heart by whatever their life experiences are, that they can take a weapon and kill their grandmother (in another incident, if I recall, the shooter first shot his mother) and then go on a rampage killing innocent children they don't even know, watching them cower in terror and then destroying their lives. Whether it's an automatic weapon, knives, cars, explosives, how do we create these killers? This isn't a rhetorical question. We need to know if we ever hope to do something about the loss of innocent lives that repeats like Groundhog Day.
Hi Anthony, agree, we need to understand this...I do think that there's so much free floating toxic violence tolerated here. It's the most disturbing thing about all this. Why would anyone do this? This guy not only shot his grandmother but people reported him for threatening teen girls with death and rape online. Interesting to note that 68 percent of all mass shootings are related to domestic violence, either because the perpetrator has a history of abusing partners and family members, or because the shooting itself was an act of domestic violence in that the people being killed had in intimate connection with the shooter, and often other people are taken down. And domestic violence has risen in the last few years which is usually a canary in the coal mine for additional violence. One thing that matters about the weapons, there are just so so many of them in the U.S. that impulses and moments of rage or depression turn deadly quickly. (And half of those gun deaths are suicide.) And easy access to weapon that can kill 20 people in 2 minutes and whose high-velocity bullets are so much more lethal because they cause so much more damage to the body, is certainly a factor. There's just a hugely disproportionate number of people that die in America versus any other G7 country where there are also angry disturbed people. Some believe that these assault rifles give angry violent-minded teens a sense of empowerment. They know that these are guns that even the cops are afraid to confront, as we saw tragically this week. They are at heart cowards. I'm just heartbroken about all of it, how it happened, who did it, and what we've lost. Thank you for your thoughtful comment.
Thanks for taking the time to respond. I wasn't aware of some of the statistics and information you mentioned - makes it even worse!
Regards,
Anthony
Another retired teacher here. Thank you for your words today. I haven’t been able to stop crying since the tragedy. Our legislators are not taking care of us. The only way to make progress on gun laws is to vote the ones who don’t care about human life out of office.
Dear Sue, I can only imagine what these tragedies set off in your heart, it is unfathomable what teachers are being asked to do I've been undone by this story, children left to fend for themselves for so long after losing their teachers. I can't imagine the cruelty of telling at teacher to fight off a guy with an assault weapon when even the police are afraid to confront these things. Sending you hugs. I wish I had the words or ideas to change things, but other than voting, I don't know what to do. Yours, s
What an awful situation, all around. The loss of the children, the easy access to (near)-automatic weapons, the refusal of congressmen (and voters) to approve even modest restraints and checks on gun purchases, the difficulty in recognizing and getting adequate help for mentally disturbed people, the mistakes made by the police officer in charge... It's just hard to know what to say.
Yes, that's the feeling I had, what do we say when a new tragedy appears every other week? I feel helpless too.
Practicing active shooter drills (ever since Columbine) is what I miss the least since retiring from teaching. Bless you for your thoughtful insights.
Thanks so much Jody, for your words and for being a teacher, in the first place. I totally understand what you're saying. Our future is nothing without teachers. Yours, s