We have all been touched by gun violence. My great niece was in 9th grade when an active shooter entered the school. My niece lived, two of her schoolmates died. Many of the teachers eventually left that school. My bff who is a HS teacher said she stands in the hallway during periods and sometimes wonders, what if it started now? Bowling for Columbine (by Michael Moore) pointed out the difference between US media (if it bleeds, it leads) and other country's media (ones with plenty of guns but fewer shootings) who report on many good community stuff. None of us knows for sure. But Moore's documentary (20+ yrs ago) has stayed with me. And my husband and I notice that if Chicago doesn't have shootings for the "day/moment," we'll hear about another city's violence. Media has always impacted our mental wellness. (Eg some fox opinion shows have swayed people toward anger). Anyway, we need our media. We also need mental health facilities. And safe schools. Sorry to ramble.
My eldest son was born in 1974. I lived in AZ at the time of all 3 of my children’s births, moving back east when my youngest was 8 weeks old in 1979. There was racism at the time against Mexicans, but since a lot of my friends were Hispanic, I didn’t see much of it, and there was no talk of a border wall. (I wasn’t raised to be prejudiced, although, I did learn the last couple years, from my daughter, that we were raised with “white privilege”. At 72, I’m still learning terms.)
I remember Sesame St, and Nickelodeon. My son learned to read before he started in the head start program at 4 years old. He went half a day, in mornings, 3 days a week and took a bus. The teacher told me at a meeting that she could tell which children watched Sesame Street by their advanced skills in reading and comprehension.
There were almost no children on the autism spectrum back then, and bullying was unheard of. However I do remember my son being taken advantage of by an older child that he had given his favorite star war toy to. The teacher got it back for us.
Sadly when my brother’s and I were in the primary grades we were watching the 3 stooges, Tom and Jerry, Roadrunner and other “violent” shows of that type. With the advent of PBS, my son was able to watch better, less violent programs, and I limited my children’s television watching when they were growing up.
It seems to me, that we as children were conditioned to living under the threats of war for many decades. Many have become desensitized. Two of my brothers and I went to a catholic school in NH, for my first 4 years of school, until my mom learned the nuns were hitting us. After which she pulled us out mid term and we started in a public school system. In the parochial school, I remember having to kneel on our hard wooden chairs daily to say the rosary, and we would have air raid drills randomly each month and told to get under our desks. (This during the Cold War with Russia) I was in 5th grade when JFK was shot and killed.
Yes, it is truly sad that we have this underbelly of violence permeating our lives daily. I feel it has been made much worse the past almost 8 years and especially how divided since covid.
My middle child, a daughter, opted to not “define herself by what she could produce from her womb”—her words—and she opted to not have children. I am proud of her decision and feel that bringing children into this world at this time is somewhat irresponsible. My son and his girlfriend had a child, so I do have a grandson who is almost 20 and was shot early this year while doing his younger half brother’s friend a favor. He survived fortunately, but the shooter, a 14 yo kid and his stepfather who drove the son to the school grounds, was arrested.
Everyone suffers from a gun shooting. My grandson is estranged from his father, and hasn’t spoken to him since the shooting. I too have not heard from him, only what I learned from his mother. (They live in VA.)
My middle brother was diagnosed with mental illness —schizophrenia at age 15 and took his life by shotgun just 3 months shy of his 17th birthday in 1972.
It is my belief that mental health, addictions and wars start in the family.
I feel the younger generations of children in America are starting to speak up and speak out and proclaiming they have had enough—I think parenting has gotten better in at least half the country, but we haven’t reached the tipping point yet.
WE do have to be careful about our own world view, as we are all linked and connected to the rest of the health of society.
“That which we put our attention on, grows”. If we feel humanity is a cancer on the earth, we will create that same cancer within our own bodies.
That being said, we still have choices as you eluded to through the saying of the Buddha in your post.
As someone who has been sober now for 29 plus years, all we ever have is today—this moment, in this time space continuum.
MY favorite Beatles song is “Imagine” by John Lennon. For me, Imagination is a powerful tool, one I try to use daily—for Peace.
We have all been touched by gun violence. My great niece was in 9th grade when an active shooter entered the school. My niece lived, two of her schoolmates died. Many of the teachers eventually left that school. My bff who is a HS teacher said she stands in the hallway during periods and sometimes wonders, what if it started now? Bowling for Columbine (by Michael Moore) pointed out the difference between US media (if it bleeds, it leads) and other country's media (ones with plenty of guns but fewer shootings) who report on many good community stuff. None of us knows for sure. But Moore's documentary (20+ yrs ago) has stayed with me. And my husband and I notice that if Chicago doesn't have shootings for the "day/moment," we'll hear about another city's violence. Media has always impacted our mental wellness. (Eg some fox opinion shows have swayed people toward anger). Anyway, we need our media. We also need mental health facilities. And safe schools. Sorry to ramble.
Not a ramble. You echo a lot of our thoughts.
Without hope, there is nothing left. I loved the message to your son, “Make sure you are there- strong and steady through everything.”
Thank you for your message of hope.
My eldest son was born in 1974. I lived in AZ at the time of all 3 of my children’s births, moving back east when my youngest was 8 weeks old in 1979. There was racism at the time against Mexicans, but since a lot of my friends were Hispanic, I didn’t see much of it, and there was no talk of a border wall. (I wasn’t raised to be prejudiced, although, I did learn the last couple years, from my daughter, that we were raised with “white privilege”. At 72, I’m still learning terms.)
I remember Sesame St, and Nickelodeon. My son learned to read before he started in the head start program at 4 years old. He went half a day, in mornings, 3 days a week and took a bus. The teacher told me at a meeting that she could tell which children watched Sesame Street by their advanced skills in reading and comprehension.
There were almost no children on the autism spectrum back then, and bullying was unheard of. However I do remember my son being taken advantage of by an older child that he had given his favorite star war toy to. The teacher got it back for us.
Sadly when my brother’s and I were in the primary grades we were watching the 3 stooges, Tom and Jerry, Roadrunner and other “violent” shows of that type. With the advent of PBS, my son was able to watch better, less violent programs, and I limited my children’s television watching when they were growing up.
It seems to me, that we as children were conditioned to living under the threats of war for many decades. Many have become desensitized. Two of my brothers and I went to a catholic school in NH, for my first 4 years of school, until my mom learned the nuns were hitting us. After which she pulled us out mid term and we started in a public school system. In the parochial school, I remember having to kneel on our hard wooden chairs daily to say the rosary, and we would have air raid drills randomly each month and told to get under our desks. (This during the Cold War with Russia) I was in 5th grade when JFK was shot and killed.
Yes, it is truly sad that we have this underbelly of violence permeating our lives daily. I feel it has been made much worse the past almost 8 years and especially how divided since covid.
My middle child, a daughter, opted to not “define herself by what she could produce from her womb”—her words—and she opted to not have children. I am proud of her decision and feel that bringing children into this world at this time is somewhat irresponsible. My son and his girlfriend had a child, so I do have a grandson who is almost 20 and was shot early this year while doing his younger half brother’s friend a favor. He survived fortunately, but the shooter, a 14 yo kid and his stepfather who drove the son to the school grounds, was arrested.
Everyone suffers from a gun shooting. My grandson is estranged from his father, and hasn’t spoken to him since the shooting. I too have not heard from him, only what I learned from his mother. (They live in VA.)
My middle brother was diagnosed with mental illness —schizophrenia at age 15 and took his life by shotgun just 3 months shy of his 17th birthday in 1972.
It is my belief that mental health, addictions and wars start in the family.
I feel the younger generations of children in America are starting to speak up and speak out and proclaiming they have had enough—I think parenting has gotten better in at least half the country, but we haven’t reached the tipping point yet.
WE do have to be careful about our own world view, as we are all linked and connected to the rest of the health of society.
“That which we put our attention on, grows”. If we feel humanity is a cancer on the earth, we will create that same cancer within our own bodies.
That being said, we still have choices as you eluded to through the saying of the Buddha in your post.
As someone who has been sober now for 29 plus years, all we ever have is today—this moment, in this time space continuum.
MY favorite Beatles song is “Imagine” by John Lennon. For me, Imagination is a powerful tool, one I try to use daily—for Peace.
Thank you for telling this important story.
It's heartbreaking. But I like the message of the song. Please stay hopeful.
More guns than people. Even other countries that permit gun ownership have far fewer gun crimes per capita.
100% true.