I wish you all a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, especially in this time of sadness.
I am sure you will not be suprised. I am sure you are expecting my thoughts on the Connecticut School Shooting. Every blog I read, religious or not, has taken time to share their thoughts on this horrible, despicable, unthinkable tragedy. As you read this, keep in mind, I am a Catholic School Principal, and like every other school principal, we are feeling the pain and agony of the Sandy Creek Elementary community on a different level. I have purposefully waited to get other perspectives on this tragedy. So, I finally think I have heard enough that I will give you my opinion. Remember, it is my opinion, I am entitled to it, and you do not have to like it.
When a tragedy, such as this, occurs, we often wonder why? Who could do such an unthinkable thing? What would possess someone to do this? Of course, from the get go, the media takes hold of the story and off it goes. We get every point of view, from the first responders, to the victims family and friends, the shooters ex next door neighbor from 10 year ago, and on and on and on...
Let's talk about some of the issues being discussed:
Gun Control
The government wants a tighter ban on gun control. The opponent says take away guns and only criminals will have guns
Drugs
In the world today, we could talk about controlled substances or illegial substances. Either way, if we have any issues today, there seems to be a drug to cure it. Have you seen the television commercials lately? There is a drug for heartburn, male enhancement, acne, dry mouth, dry eye, restless leg, the list is endless. Listen to possible side affects of each drug. Really, may cause thoughts of suicide!!! Not to worry, because there is a medicine for that as well. We have our society so drugged up, that I cannot figure out how any doctor or pharmacist can keep up.
Alcohol
How many stories of drunk driving ending in death have we heard in the last couple of weeks, especially in the NFL.
Sex Abuse
Do I even need to explain this?
Violent Video games
Today there are games that teach children to go to war. They can develop strategies to clear a building or start and finish a war. How is that a good idea for a 14 year old?
Poor Parenting
We here the stories of abuse and violence in the home every day. If every parent were adequate, there would not be a need for the Department of Child Services, or Court Appointed Special Advocates.
Mental Illness
On a side note, the shooter was said to be diagnosed with Aspergers, which is classified on the Autism Spectrum. I feel so bad for the negativeness that will come out towards Autism. Rest assured, I have dealt with many students with Autism, and I would believe there is not one iota of a connection between students with Autism and violence.
Bullying
Students come back to school and figure out a way to stop the bullying, or to get back at the bullies at school, by inflicting a violence we cannot even fathom.
Violent Movies and Televsion shows
I cannot tell you how many times I have had to change the channel because whatever was on TV was inappropriate for my children, at least in my opinion. I am sick and tired of movies and television programs portraying parents as idiots and easy to manipulate, especially dads.
A couple of blog posts ago, I mentioned a qoute from Pope Benedict XVI:
"So many young people, today, have no meaning in their lives."With all that I listed above, and the quote from Pope Benedict, do you all see the common link? The common link is dignity. In this particular case, human dignity. If our children, today, had dignity for the human person, things listed above would not even be mentioned. Students would not do it to themselves or to others. People who abuse drugs and alcohol, have no dignity for their life. People who kill others and then themselves, clearly have no dignity for human life, especially their own.
But in today's world, we do not teach dignity for humans. I know taking the 10 commandments out of goverment buildings and public squares is a hot-button topic today. But in reality, what group or organization does not agree with "Thou Shall Not Kill." If we do not teach them this commandment, then how are they going to have dignity for the life they are taking. But because God said it, we cannot teach it. How absurd is that? I am sure God will be glad to remove his name as author of this commandment, if we it would lead to change in our world.
How do we do it? How do we change our world? As an educator, I would like to have a program that teaches students about human dignity and that their life and others, have worth. I would love to close all institutions that deal with people because they attempted to commit suicide, because they have human dignity and would never dream of doing this to themselves. I would love to see a change in television programming and movies, because children have human dignity, that they would not want to watch such hate and violence. How do we do it?
A barrier that we face is the lack of patience. We are a "need it now" society. Changing the way people think about human dignity is a long term process. If I started today, teaching about human dignity, I would probably never see the results in my lifetime. It is something that would take generations to evolve. We cannot let that stop us. We hear, over and over, that the children are our most precious resource, let's start nurturing this rescource, giving it wisdom and knowledge that will allow them to see the dignity of every human person, including themselves.
In an effort to keep this blog short, I will end here. I could write about this for pages and pages and pages, but much like the blogs I read, if they are too long, I cannot keep focused, and I lack the patience, as mentioned above, to finish the entire thing. Please feel free to comment about anything I said, especially if you have any ideas, how to get the idea across to children, they are worth it.
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