One hit close home for me, as it happened in my home state of North Carolina, and two of the college student victims (who survived after surgeries) were from my hometown. Another just happened at a school in Colorado.
Resource officers are key. But, so are alert parents, friends and educators who can reach out to those kids who may be exhibiting depression or anxiety or any number of mental issues.
So, what’s the solution?
Too often, we expect teenagers to act like mature adults, and too often we ignore their cries for help in attitude and behavior as just “being teens.” The anger that festers and manifests in violence does so in solitude, or blossoms with a comrade of like dark mindset.
Everyone wants a quick fix. Ban guns! Hire more psychologists! Put gun detectors in schools!
But, this is a multifaceted problem, and with multifaceted problems there are multifaceted paths to resolution. As ALWAYS, it starts with one kid at a time. We need to ensure that all kids have access to help in whatever manner they need.
Take away the guns, and the anger is still there. Look at London. Without guns, their violent crimes are up. They’ve had to ban knives! Knives! Crazy.
It’s always the heart. Some have cried that guns are the problem and if we just get rid of guns are schools will be safe. But, we know that’s not the case, because every issue starts with the heart. The heart is the center of the violence, and weapons are the means to dispel that anger from the individual. Those weapons could be anything: hands/fists, bombs, knives, trucks or cars, clubs or bats, guns…etc.
Until we take responsibility for helping kids (and adults) work through anger and mental issues, we can’t just keep taking away various weapons to make the problem go away, because the problem will still be there long after the weapon is out of reach.