It’s impossible to say anything; impossible to know what to say. That’s because there aren’t words big enough to express our anger and grief and deep frustration. I say “our” because I have to assume that all moms and dads and really most people in this country are angry and grief-stricken and deeply frustrated that kids are dying at school and the people in charge aren’t doing anything to stop it.
People with guns are killing children. Anyone who’s paying attention–which is every mother–knows that firearms are the number-one killer of children in the United States. Three children and three adults died in Nashville last week because a woman with easy, legal access to guns killed them. The U.S. government has already said it’s unlikely to do anything to control gun violence, even though the Nashville crime was one of 130 mass shootings so far this year. And it’s only April.
Moms can demand action, and they are. Parents and people all over the country can protest, march, call their elected representatives, write letters, write blog posts, write articles, talk to their friends, talk to their children, scream, cry, breathe. But the people who really can do something, the people who can reform gun laws and keep firearms out of the hands of the wrong people and ban assault rifles that nobody needs, aren’t doing anything. At least not anything major.
So what are we supposed to do? Parents, what are we supposed to do? Accept that there’s a chance our children will be killed at school? No. But … nothing is changing, children keep getting killed and, again, what are we supposed to do?
We could keep our kids out of school. But then we’d be taking them other places like the grocery store, the park, the movie theater, the children’s museum, the sidewalk in front of our house, our car – and those are all places they could be victims of gun violence, too, because basically anyone can get their hands on a firearm and take it basically anywhere they want to.
We could keep our kids inside our house and never go anywhere. But that’s not a life worth living.
We could move to Canada or Australia or anywhere else with stronger gun-control laws. That’s perhaps the best option. But so few of us can do that because of pesky immigration laws, and so few of us want to because of pesky things like families and jobs that keep us where we are.
So we keep screaming and crying and worrying and living with constant anxiety that today will be the day our children’s school is targeted. We’re also living with constant anxiety that today will the the day anyone’s children’s school is targeted. We only feel secure when our children are in our sight, preferably when we’re touching them. What else is there?
Writing this is deeply unsatisfying, for a few reasons. For one thing, I’m embarrassed to write it and post it because I have nothing new or original to say. That’s why I started with “it’s impossible to say anything.” That’s also what I say to my friends when this topic comes up. What can we say to each other? Nothing comforting. And for another thing, I hate ending any post without an ending that’s natural or funny or uplifting or in some way a natural conclusion. For this, there is no natural conclusion until something changes.