Tuesday, April 17, 2007

There are no words . . . .

I really don't know what to say this morning.

There are 32 victims of the gunman at Virginia Tech.

Since Columbine (8 years ago this week), there have been more than 150 school shootings in this country. That's right. 150.

I know it's too simple to say we need to get rid of the guns, but we do.

I'm a former teacher in a state where the governor seriously thinks one solution might be to arm teachers. That is NOT the answer. More guns is NOT the answer. We are failing our children.

We are a culture of violence. Look at the video games, the movies, rap music.

We are failing our children and it will happen again and it makes me weep.

5 comments:

Ghost Girl (aka, Mary Ann) said...

Oh...this is so hard. My heart has been aching since I heard the first bit of it early yesterday morning. Then only a few hours later the dam burst.

I agree with you, Judy. We need to get rid of the guns. I'm not an absolutist or a radical conservative, but as long as guns like these are so readily available, all the sick minds and tormented souls out there have a way to lash out that can devastate our society.

Armed guards at the doors, metal detectors, closed campuses--these are not answers.

I am praying for the vicitims, for their families, for their friends, for the community, and for all of us.

Rebecca said...

so, so sad.

No - more guns cannot possibly be the answer - what a bizzare idea.

Rebecca said...

ooh - back again - just went to your website and read your words on why you wrote the book.

I, too, have oftened wondered how parents cope when the worst happens - when do they eventually get out of bed? Do they ever REALLY feel something like happiness again?

Kids make us truly vulnerable...and it is terrifying sometimes!

Did writing this book bring you any closer to an answer? (i guess I'll have to read it to find that one out!)

Anonymous said...

I read where one of the gun lobbies has taken an aggressive stand after this tragedy (apparently assuming, logically, that there would be a renewed outcry for gun control). This organization is out there telling people that if the students had been armed, the massacre wouldn't have occurred.

I just don't understand this logic. So instead of one person shooting, there would have been a wholesale shootout - how would that have lessened the number of casualties? It's just ridiculous to think this way. No guns is the answer. Not more guns.

Judy Merrill Larsen said...

Thanks for stopping by and sharing. I think we all have that need to come together at a time like this--even if it's just cyber-ly.

I feel so helpless. And Rebecca, it's odd because while my book is about losing a child--when I look at these parents who have now suffered that loss, I still find it unimaginable.

Okay, I need ot get out in the sunshine and call my sons (who are both away at college) and tell them again to be safe and that I love them.