What Are YOU Really Doing?

As I write this, we are still processing the news out of Uvalde, Texas, the site of a shooting at an elementary school. More than a dozen people, many of them children, are dead. As a parent, I suspect I have many of the same thoughts as there are for parents everywhere: Why? Schools should be a safe place for our kids. We all want something done about it. 

Just as troubling, there is an all-too predictable cycle with these events. It has become far too easy to engage in that cycle. Here's what I mean:

The event happens. The always on, 24-hour nonstop news media blasts the story into our awareness, via television, the internet, social media, cell phone app alerts, and the like. Politicians flock to the nearest camera and microphone to express their opinions and outrage, many times before legitimate facts are even known. Celebrities flock to social media to express their emotions and calls for government to "do something." Others of us, less famous, rush to our own Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and other accounts to express their sadness and support for the victims. Some even rush to change their profile pictures to some symbol of the latest cause celebre.

And then, after a few days, the national news coverage fades away, and the latest tragedy fades from the consciousness of all but those closest to it, and those who will grieve devastating losses for the rest of their lives. Others quickly move on to something else. 

As I was observing the social media posts tonight, it was as if from a template. "We need more gun control. How many of these will it take before we do something? Enough is enough." For those who aren't politicians and celebrities, perhaps social media serves as some sort of vent or release. That's entirely understandable. 

But here's my question: What are YOU really doing about any of this? 

Social media posts and pronouncements lull us into feeling like we're "doing something." But I've concluded opinions expressed online have very little productive effect. If you believe gun control measures are the answer, for example. are you contacting your state and federal representatives to implore productive action? Are you talking with your local school boards, police, and others about prevention measures in your community? 

I won't pretend I have any grand answer to the problem of gun violence, especially where our schools are affected. But our society craves easy, quick answers, and here, there are none. It's a complicated web of problems that have developed in our society over the last 50-60 years, if not more. Here are just some of them: 

• A continually fading respect for life and the dignity of the person, institutionally and individually
• The decline of the nuclear family
• Government programs that destroy the incentive to work and a sense of self-reliance
• The systematic tearing away of religion from the fabric of our communities
• A devastating ignorance of mental health needs and care
• A failure to confront difficult topics in a civil discourse that seeks common ground

It is too easy to fixate upon "gun control" as our quick solution to all of these events. But please consider this carefully: tell me you can point to one law or other legislative measure that would have stopped any such tragedy. I can't come up with one. Cities such Chicago have some of the highest counts of shootings in the nation, and the gun laws there are said to be some of the strictest. Criminals or anyone bent on doing harm do not stop to consider laws and their consequences. The proof is in history. Look as recently as the Buffalo grocery store shooting this month. It is reported the shooter obtained the gun through legal means. 

As I write this, little is known about the suspect in the Uvalde, Texas tragedy. More will be known soon, but predictably, people are already rushing to judgement, before the facts of what led to this are really understood. 

It is sad to say this won't be the last time this comes up. It will happen again, somewhere. But my challenge to all of us is this: What will we REALLY do about it? 

Put down the electronic devices. Get out into your communities and talk with your neighbors. Meet people you don't know. Get involved with a mental health board. Have a discussion about what we can do together to work for constructive changes. It won't happen overnight. But gradually, the outcomes we want are possible, if we are willing to work for them. 

And so it goes.