A Six-Year-Old Shoots His Teacher. And We’re Surprised.
While the nation stands shocked by a six-year-old shooting his teacher, and the National Council of Churches grieves the act, the shooting is but a microcosm of the behavior of millions of traumatized children. Have we forgotten that the response of the NRA and others to mass school shootings is to arm teachers — and to train children as young as kindergarten how to shoot guns? Many more are one step away from replicating his behavior. Is it the wounded teacher that concerns us, that a six-year-old had access to a gun, or is it the state of mind of the child that he/she felt compelled to use a gun? How we answer those questions will determine if we begin to take seriously the state of children in America.
Have we forgotten the gun culture we’ve ignited by every vote against access, by acceptance of video games and music that promote their use, and by entertainment that is more prone to show gun violence than silly family antics? We devour multiple versions of NCIS like they’re slices of mom’s apple pie, each one featuring shootouts and suspects and police alike posturing with powerful weapons at the ready. Kudos to the audience who passed on laughing at the line from Queen Latifah’s acceptance speech at the Griot’s recent ICON Awards when she joked about shooting two suspects. I was still filtering those words as she went on to give an otherwise…
