Dawn’s Delights

Easter weekend was pretty busy, but it was fun too! Unfortunately, it ended with a young man being shot at an event that took place at Holman Community Center. It is so frustrating hearing stories like this  in our city. 

When will people realize that shooting people is not the answer to a disagreement? We have come to a place in our society where people don’t have any conflict resolution skills. We are so busy on our devices that we have failed to learn how to speak to each other, how to talk through issues and it is costing us in lives lost, every day. While the victim in Sunday’s shooting is going to make a full recovery, the underlying issue is still there.

People have got to start taking responsibility for their actions. The blame game is a cop out. When something like this happens, it is so easy to blame someone else, blame the police, blame the system, blame anyone else but themselves. That doesn’t solve anything. First, there is no reason to be carrying a gun to an event with so many people in attendance. That is really just asking for trouble. I have written about this before, how when I was in high school, a lot of kids carried rifles, shotguns and such in their vehicles, but no one ever got shot! I can remember multiple fist fights at school but never a hint of gun violence. It makes you wonder, when did it become acceptable to shoot someone you didn’t like or didn’t agree with? We tell ourselves that it isn’t acceptable, but actions speak otherwise. Then when someone’s son, or grandson, or daughter is killed in a shooting or if they are the person who did the shooting, the families also pay the price. But the shooter didn’t just decide to grab a gun and shoot someone one day. No they didn’t. I ask you, where were the parents when that person was growing up? Were they teaching them that killing people is wrong? Or were they just silent?

As a reporter, I have covered many discipline hearings at school board meetings. The sad part is that this might be the first time a parent/grandparent discovers what their child is up to. Many times the child is not remorseful and unfortunately, the parents want to excuse the child’s bad behavior. You just can’t do that and not deal with it. Sometimes parents just have to open their eyes and stop blindly asserting, “Not my child.” Sometimes, adults need to look in the mirror and ask themselves, is this the life I have taught my child to live in? Do you know your child’s friends, their parents? Are they practicing values that reflect your values? 

As parents/grandparents, it is our responsibility to teach our children right from wrong and that there are consequences to bad behavior. You are not doing your child any favors by supporting their bad behavior and blaming someone else. It is hard to be a parent and many parents are so busy trying to be their child’s friend, and not their parent. That’s not your role. Your role is to teach your child and help prepare them for the real world. The real world is not fair. We can not control others actions, but we can control our reaction to them. And grabbing a gun and shooting someone is NOT the correct reaction.

Until next time…