Another School Shooting, Rinse and Repeat
When I think of the most recent school shooting, I find myself also thinking about a time long ago when I had hair. Yep, there was a time when I was not follicly challenged. Back in the good old days, the days when I had flowing locks, I remember buying shampoo and conditioner to wash and condition my high-top fade.
It’s been nearly twenty years since I last had a reason to spend money on any special shampoos or conditioners. And while my hair follicles may have failed me, my memory hasn’t. While I am uncertain if this is still the case, I am certain that when I did have hair both the shampoo and conditioner bottles had these following words printed on the instructions: “rinse and repeat”.
Shampoo and Conditioner
America’s response to school shooting has been identical to the shampoo and conditioner instructions I used to treat my youthful shag – rinse and repeat.
The media televises a horrific school shooting. Children are interviewed explaining in detail the harrowing event. Members of one political party posture about not wanting to overreact or politicize the event like the other political party.
The other political party accuses the posturing party of not caring and then they demand the enactment of a new gun law. Parents, especially those parents who lost their children, publicly beg and plead that no other parent ever have the misfortune of experiencing what they are going through. Rinse and repeat…
Rinse and Repeat
Yet when all is said and done there are many things that will be repeated. Without question, there will be another school shooting. There will be a new group of mourning students, bereaved school officials, and grieving parents to interview. The media will milk the story for all its worth. Politicians on all sides will posture and use the tragedy for their political gain. Rinse and repeat…
And before the blood of the slain are rinsed off the school pavement, before the DNA (flesh and bone) of the slain can be rinsed off the school floors and walls, we, as a Nation, will have already started rinsing the senseless stench of death and bloody events from our consciousness. Rinse and repeat, rinse and repeat, rinse and repeat are so much more than shampoo and conditioner instructions, they are America’s way of expressing our value of life.
Value of Life
Life is invaluable – all life. If we are serious about putting an end to school shootings, it starts with developing a genuine demonstrable appreciation for the value of life – all life. Sadly, as evidenced by the nearly 1,300 children who die and 5,790 who are treated for gunshot wounds each year, we have a lot of work to do if we want anyone to believe that we value life especially the life of children.
Charles Darwin said, “A man who dares to waste one hour of time has not discovered the value of life.” If only we would hurriedly take heed in the wisdom of Mr. Darwin’s words. Perhaps, if we embraced Mr. Darwin’s words, we could stop rinsing flesh, bone, and blood away from the scene of school shootings. Maybe, if we accepted Mr. Darwin’s words as truth, we would no longer have the repeated need to buy more caskets – to bury our children, this Nation’s future.
The Fierce Urgency of Now
As a father, I believe it’s past time for parents to show that we value all life – not just the life of our own children but the life of all children all the time. As is the case when anyone is attempting to change a bad habit to a redeeming quality, we must start with an admission. Our admission is that we have failed our children.
It’s time for us to do something different immediately. As parents, we must acknowledge today that when any child’s life is taken, we are all deprived of seeing this nation live up to her potential.
We must no longer ignore the value of the life of other children simply because they are biologically unrelated, share different ancestry, reside outside our zip code, have parents who lack the financial resources to buy politicians or are unlikely to ever be able to rub elbows with the uber-wealthy. Moreover, we must seek to eliminate the pain and suffering of all children regardless of where their misfortune occurs: urban, suburban or rural community.
For if we are truly serious about seeing school shootings come to an end, we must admit that it will only happen when all parents value life – all life and when all parents choose to no longer rinse and repeat our deeply ingrained American tradition of valuing only certain life – namely the lives of those who live under our roof.
#AllChildrenMatterNotJustYours
If you had to guess, how long do you think it will be before the next school shooting? What are you willing to do right now to end school shootings forever?