It seems that every day when I log into my computer before classes start and my teacher responsibilities begin at Jefferson High School in Rockford, Illinois that CNN.Com highlights or news flashes yet another mass shooting. Early on often the reason or motive appears to be non-existent or missing all together. Sometimes however the media outlet does convey a motive that might include a thin but real motive similar to the magnitude of a property line disagreement, or perhaps a person seeking their 15 minutes of fame. The sad thing is that the list of dead has grown yet again and CNN.com is passing on the grim details for all to read or watch.
It is time that our elected officials focus on the cause or motivation of what exists in the persons mind to make the conscious decision to pick up the gun or knife and commit the deadly life ending crime. As a teacher at an inner city school I recently posed to my students the same question/thought.
It would be simple to propose all sorts of legislation to limit our Constitutional Rights, propose larger jails, employ more police, employ more judges, give money away to not for profits to fix the problem, and/or propose ill advised economic development projects using tax payer money in areas that are predisposed to high crime.
While these solutions make for great NEWS at 5:00 Political ribbon cuttings and the like… they are only a small band-aid on the cut or a cup of water on an already raging fire. The better solution is to determine what created the cut and what ignited the fire.