What the Hell Is Wrong With the World

What the Hell is Wrong With The World

16 January 2013

30 days ago 20 children ages 6 and 7 were brutally gunned down in an elementary school….along with six staff members…..tales of the bravery of the teachers and the horror of the scene have become fairly well known to some.

Today this now very political and polarizing issue once again was the top news story as the President of The United States signed nearly two dozen executive orders to “toughen gun laws.”

Let me just go on record and say a few things up front:

1. I wish the POTUS would not have had small children on the stage with him
2. I do not think that “tougher gun laws” have a snowball’s chance in fucking hell of actually reducing violence of this nature
3. I do not possess (nor do I want to) even a working discussion worthy knowledge of semi or automatic weapons or the laws controlling them
4. Criminals DO NOT FOLLOW LAWS

Now that we have that out of the way~ you may be wondering why I have chosen to weigh in on this issue at all……..I do not generally engage in discussions about issues in which I am uneducated or have no interest……and I have already admitted that I know next to nothing about gun laws or weapons…….but I’ll tell you what I do know about: child abuse, mental illness, bullying and the perpetual cyclic nature of domestic violence.

Now I do NOT know the kid’s name (and yes he was little more than a kid himself)….and I do not know his family history….and I do not know if he was abused or bullied…….but I think 99.9% of regular folks would agree that in order to strap on a weapon and methodically move from room to room shooting 6 and 7 year olds ~~he sure as FUCK WAS mentally ill.

So it is a much broader issue that I am weighing in on today……that of What the Hell Is Wrong With the World~~~ that this type of violence has happened **at ALL** let alone more than ONCE??

Many experts far more educated than me have weighed in on just this issue. And many uneducated idiots have also weighed in on just this issue. Frankly it sickens me that so many politicians and zealots have used this tragedy and others like it to push their personal agendas. Many have used it to pass laws that have nothing to DO with what happened, in the name of “preventing” it from happening again. People on both sides of gun ownership get all fired up and point fingers at one another in a your fault~ no YOUR fault tug of war. Regular everyday people suddenly become “experts” on the constitution and weigh in on what the Founding Father’s were **thinking** when they drafted the second amendment in 1791….as if that were even POSSIBLE. And NONE of IT is really all that helpful. And in fact~ I’d wager much of it is actually COUNTERPRODUCTIVE.

SO back to violence and mental illness……as a child who grew up in a home where both were present~ I can say with 100% conviction that it is a VERY difficult cycle from which to escape. Harder still when adults are present or aware of what is happening and do nothing to stop it.

The kid who did this terrible thing did not just wake UP mentally ill that day….that kind of contempt and disregard for human life was undoubtedly present in this young man for quite some time prior to that fateful date in December. I find it difficult to believe that no one noticed something unusual or concerning about this boy~~ a teacher, social worker, friend, parent, parent’s friend ~~~~someone MUST have seen signs~ and maybe they did~ and maybe he was getting treatment~ but I can say (and I think most would agree) any efforts that were made clearly failed.

Now I am not trying to suggest that all persons can be “saved” or even treated effectively~ but I KNOW we can do a better job than what we are doing now.

I KNOW from personal experience that often adults who can and **should** be protecting children turn a blind eye~ or even worse~ assist in the abuse or cover up.

I have 4 living children~ two grown and two at home~ and I know this parenting gig is one of the toughest on the planet~~ add in real life problems, mental health issues, and a difficult past~ and the gig could easily become a disaster.

Often times in my adult life I have wondered how my life might have been different if someone **had** just noticed~ or asked the right questions~ or acted on their gut level hunch that something was just NOT right.

My 7-year-old son came home today and told me that he wants to participate in the talent show at school this year. The inner child in me almost literally quaked in fear. I used to say that **kids** can be very cruel~~ no matter what~ they have an ingrained ability to find SOMEthing, ANYthing to pick on one another about. But now more than ever I realize that children truly do learn what they live. And adults are equally (if not more so) cruel to one another. We are (as a whole) two faced, backstabbing, sellouts.

So I guess the point of my chiming in on this whole tragedy is to say~

If you **suspect** something is wrong~ trust your GUT and ACT on it.

Be the parent your children can imitate safely

Teach your children how to both deal WITH and stick UP TO a bully

Treat one another with kindness and forgive easily~ your children are ALWAYS

          watching ~ even when you **think** they are not

Do NOT turn a blind eye to things you **know** in your heart are wrong~ what

          you SEE is but one TENTH of what is really happening

Reach out~ help a single parent~ volunteer~ give back in what ever way you

          CAN to make a difference, on a very fundamental level, in the life of a child

If you are from an abusive, mental health, bullied or DV history; PLEASE GET HELP.
          Please take extra care in making certain that your children are the LEAST negatively impacted   
          as POSSIBLE by YOUR past.

<3 and Light,

Ginger