ABUNDANT LIFE, NO MORE

Source: Associated Press/Dec. 16, 2024

There comes a time when I have to stop all my online work, writing and motivational posts etc... and SPEAK OUT on the things that REALLY matter! And to me, that is the safety of our children...ALL of our children. And that time is now, again! It is insanity that I have to have so many blog posts/articles that reference school shootings. It is just that I find it incomprehensible to just sit by and not say or do anything at all, while innocent lives continue to be lost (and in school no less!)

Did you even hear about this one? A 15-year-old student opened fire inside a study hall at a small Christian school in Wisconsin on Monday, (Dec. 16, 2024) killing a teacher and teenager and prompting a swarm of police officers responding to a second grader’s 911 call. 

There are too many sh**tings in this Country to keep track, but to continue to ignore them and pretend it's not happening is unconscionable.

Sooo many things wrong here:

1. The obvious, is the injury and death of innocent people (children)
2. That a SECOND GRADER had a cell phone and had to use it to call (the police) 911!

Let that sink in! (What are we doing to our children!?)
3. That this teenager had easy access to a weapon
4. That this teenager is so mentally unwell and unhappy that the first option is to take the lives of others?!
5. That G-d and religion can't do sh*t about gun violence.
6. Thoughts and prayers are too little too late.
7. That most people didn't even hear about this incident.
8. That we have accepted this violence as the "norm."
9. The irony that this happened in a 'Christian" school called "Abundant Life."
10. That most people are going to keep scrolling, reading...while victims of gun violence continue to grow in this Country, until one day, it will be too close to your home, children and/or loved ones.

Every SINGLE time there is a school sh**ting, not only does it add to the list of victims of gun violence in this Country, but more and more children suffer from PTSD and the trauma of going to school.

How did we reach a point in this Country where kids have to be FEARFUL of attending school?! Why is this okay?

I don't even know why I bother writing about this anymore. We vote and it doesn't mean anything. We try to pass gun law reform and background checks and other common gun law reform, and the people obsessed with gun ownership, get in a twist over it all.

The conclusion (IMO) is that, in THIS Country, people value their weapons and money more than the safety and mental well-being of our children and that was more than evident during #SandyHook

Until you have been through it, or loved someone who has been through it, you will never understand, how incredibly frightening and traumatic it is for a child (or any person) to live through such unimaginable violence, where you go to school and/or work.

Whatever the solution is, we must DO SOMETHING! Children DESERVE to be SAFE and PROTECTED! Thus far, we have failed too many of them!

NO MORE CLEAR BACKPACKS AT MSD

So my 15-year old daughter is away for the summer working out of state. She opted for this after the end of the year at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. She seems to really be enjoying herself and working hard,  though she rarely ever calls home. I know from what family members tell me and a few pictures I can see on social media and sporadic late night face-time calls.

Today, at 12:50pm, in the middle of the work day, she called my cell phone. Rare. My heart momentarily stopped. I couldn’t even say “hello” properly. I said, Hi, what happened?” “Nothing, she replied, (thankfully,) it's just I found out that we don’t have to use clear backpacks at school this year.” “Oh that’s great! I said. I am happy for you. What else? I asked. “That’s it, gotta go, bye, love you.” And with that she hung up. 

Whew! I thought to myself. My immediate instinct was to think something bad happened. Ever since Feb. 14, 2018, it is an underlying fear I have. That was the day she texted both her father and I (at 2:35p.m.) to tell us there was an active shooter in her school. That is the one text (or call) no parent EVER wants to receive!  That fateful day of Feb. 14th, she said she could hear someone crying and praying because they had been shot. She said she was in the 1200 building on the 3rd floor. She said she was hiding and that she was fine but that she was terrified. After that, we lost comunication with her for 30-40 minutes!

That was the most terrifying thirty to forty minutes of my life not knowing if my child was dead or alive. I know she was scared for own life as well.  That day was "hell" for everyone involved.

Fast-forward to the simple phone call today to share news with me. Sure it was an over-reaction on my part, I guess, but it just took me momentarily, to a dark place and thought.  Thankfully, it was good news.  It may seem like no big deal, but the news of that rule (no clear backpacks) being implemented made her day, enough to actually call me. I imagine it was a feeling of a sense of privacy returned. It is a small sense of normalcy returning. 

Who knows how each of these students will react as they return back to Marjory Stoneman Douglas, when summer is over. after what was, a long and painful end to the school year.

My hope is that with some of the changes that have been implemented over the summer, such as no more clear pack backs, (pilot) metal detectors being installed (hopefully in the Fall 2018,) fire alarm tones being altered, higher fencing, and extra school resource officers (SRO's,) there will be some semblance of security and a feeling of getting back to “normal”

Realistically, we all know things will never be the same for anyone of these students or anyone affected by the tragedy at Stoneman Douglas, but we have to find the silver lining wherever we can and keep moving forward to make things better, especially when it comes to gun violence awareness and safety in our schools!