In memory of the children
15/12/14 05:32
I didn’t write about Sandy Hook yesterday, though it was on my mind. The day was too busy, my grief was too fresh coming home from two funerals, and I needed a bit more time to think and sort. So, in a sense, today’s blog is a day late.
It has been two years since the tragedies of December 14, 2012. Here is a list of the children and adults who were killed on that day at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. I think it is important to look closely at the ages as one reads the list:
Charlotte Bacon, 6
Daniel Barden, 7
Olivia Engel, 6
Josephine Gay, 7
Ana Marquez-Greene, 6
Dylan Hockley, 6
Madeleine Hsu, 6
Catherine Hubbard, 6
Chase Kowalski, 7
Jesse Lewis, 6
James Mattioli, 6
Grace McDonnell, 7
Emilie Parker, 6
Jack Pinto, 6
Noah Pozner, 6
Caroline Previdi, 6
Jesica Rekos, 6
Avielle Richman, 6
Benjamin Wheeler, 6
Allison Wyatt, 6
Rachel Davino, 29 (Teacher)
Dawn Hochsprung, 47 (School principal)
Nancy Lanza, 52 (Mother of gunman)
Anne Marie Murphy, 52 (Teacher)
Lauren Rousseau, 30 (Teacher)
Mary Sherlach, 56 (School psychologist)
Victoria Soto, 27 (Teacher)
Years ago, in an entirely different context, I read the words of Elie Wiesel as he wrote about the holocaust: “To forget the dead would be akin to killing them a second time.” So we will remember.
And we will not rush to simple “solutions” that don’t work or quick “fixes” that don’t fix anything. We will allow our hearts to be broken because sometimes broken is the only way we remain open-hearted.
Here is another chilling reality: In the two years since Sandy Hook, there have been at least 94 school shootings in America - an average of nearly one a week. Not all of those incidents involved deaths, and some did not involve shooting at others, as was the case with the incident that occurred in our own backyard on November 22, 2013 when assistant professor of physics Alberto Lemut died by suicide on the campus of South Dakota School of Mines and Technology. The gunshot was heard around 11 a.m. from inside the Electrical Engineering Physics building. There was confusion, an evacuation, worry, speculation and uncertainty on that day right her in Rapid City.
The incident is hardly comparable to what happened in Sandy Hook. That is really true of every incident where a shooting has taken place in a school. Each is unique, with its own set of circumstances. That is why a rush to simple solutions and quick fixes simply won’t work. There is no single cause and there is no single cure to the violence that destroys lives and leaves a permanent scar.
That is why we must not forget. We remember to honor those who have died, to be sure, but we also remember because we need to make a fresh effort to prevent future tragedies.
The memorial for which I long - the most fitting memorial possible for the victims of Sandy Hook - is to do the tough work of reforming our nation and world into a place where everyone’s children are safe and have a chance to thrive because grown-ups care and never forget.
Towards that memorial, we have a long road ahead.
Right now it too often seems that we are too quick to put personal politics ahead of the safety of our children.
The debate over common sense rules that work in many other countries to decrease private access to military weapons is clouded with assertions of individual rights. As long as we focus our attention on “my rights” we simply are not putting the children first. There is a difference between a rifle used for hunting, or even a gun used for self defense and a military-grade automatic weapon with 100 rounds of ammunition. Unless we are willing to see differences and make distinctions, we will never get to the point of putting the children first.
I am quick to admit that i am no politician. I don’t have the stomach for compromise nor do I have the love of big-dollar fundraising that are inherent in the qualifications for our political leaders. I don’t have the skill to write legislation that is conscious of the possibility unforeseen consequences. But it is easy to see that not everyone who wins an election is willing to put children first.
Pay attention to the next session of the legislature of South Dakota. The bills authorizing spending to fund prisons will be debated and passed before discussions of schools and children enter the halls of government.
It is not only the children of Sandy Hook for which we grieve. It is the children of our own community who daily go to underfunded schools with underpaid teachers while adults have the luxury of complaining about the amount of taxes on their 3,500 square-foot four-bathroom homes with two story entryways.
We have forgotten to put the children first.
And I don’t need to point fingers. The same is true of my own institution. Read our budget. It isn’t hard to see where our priorities are.
If we are to work toward a world where everyone’s children are safe and have a chance to thrive because the grown-ups care and never forget, we need to start with ourselves. Alligator tears, even when shed in public, are a poor substitute for a close look at our priorities.
These are complex problems. And you won’t read the answer in this blog. This much, however, I do know. We need to work together and we need to put the children first.
I’ve never met Seven-pound, 14-ounce Hazel Grace. Chances are I never will. Two years after Sandy Hook, a baby was born last Saturday evening at Fairview Hospital in Cleveland, Ohio. Defying the odds, she was born at 10:11 on 12/13/14. It is the last sequential date until January 2, 2034.
I don’t put much stock in luck. But 10:11, 12/13/14 seems like a good starting point. I pray that every year of her life will be marked by a decrease in violence against children and a fresh commitment on the part of adults to make this world a safe place for all children.
It has been two years since the tragedies of December 14, 2012. Here is a list of the children and adults who were killed on that day at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. I think it is important to look closely at the ages as one reads the list:
Charlotte Bacon, 6
Daniel Barden, 7
Olivia Engel, 6
Josephine Gay, 7
Ana Marquez-Greene, 6
Dylan Hockley, 6
Madeleine Hsu, 6
Catherine Hubbard, 6
Chase Kowalski, 7
Jesse Lewis, 6
James Mattioli, 6
Grace McDonnell, 7
Emilie Parker, 6
Jack Pinto, 6
Noah Pozner, 6
Caroline Previdi, 6
Jesica Rekos, 6
Avielle Richman, 6
Benjamin Wheeler, 6
Allison Wyatt, 6
Rachel Davino, 29 (Teacher)
Dawn Hochsprung, 47 (School principal)
Nancy Lanza, 52 (Mother of gunman)
Anne Marie Murphy, 52 (Teacher)
Lauren Rousseau, 30 (Teacher)
Mary Sherlach, 56 (School psychologist)
Victoria Soto, 27 (Teacher)
Years ago, in an entirely different context, I read the words of Elie Wiesel as he wrote about the holocaust: “To forget the dead would be akin to killing them a second time.” So we will remember.
And we will not rush to simple “solutions” that don’t work or quick “fixes” that don’t fix anything. We will allow our hearts to be broken because sometimes broken is the only way we remain open-hearted.
Here is another chilling reality: In the two years since Sandy Hook, there have been at least 94 school shootings in America - an average of nearly one a week. Not all of those incidents involved deaths, and some did not involve shooting at others, as was the case with the incident that occurred in our own backyard on November 22, 2013 when assistant professor of physics Alberto Lemut died by suicide on the campus of South Dakota School of Mines and Technology. The gunshot was heard around 11 a.m. from inside the Electrical Engineering Physics building. There was confusion, an evacuation, worry, speculation and uncertainty on that day right her in Rapid City.
The incident is hardly comparable to what happened in Sandy Hook. That is really true of every incident where a shooting has taken place in a school. Each is unique, with its own set of circumstances. That is why a rush to simple solutions and quick fixes simply won’t work. There is no single cause and there is no single cure to the violence that destroys lives and leaves a permanent scar.
That is why we must not forget. We remember to honor those who have died, to be sure, but we also remember because we need to make a fresh effort to prevent future tragedies.
The memorial for which I long - the most fitting memorial possible for the victims of Sandy Hook - is to do the tough work of reforming our nation and world into a place where everyone’s children are safe and have a chance to thrive because grown-ups care and never forget.
Towards that memorial, we have a long road ahead.
Right now it too often seems that we are too quick to put personal politics ahead of the safety of our children.
The debate over common sense rules that work in many other countries to decrease private access to military weapons is clouded with assertions of individual rights. As long as we focus our attention on “my rights” we simply are not putting the children first. There is a difference between a rifle used for hunting, or even a gun used for self defense and a military-grade automatic weapon with 100 rounds of ammunition. Unless we are willing to see differences and make distinctions, we will never get to the point of putting the children first.
I am quick to admit that i am no politician. I don’t have the stomach for compromise nor do I have the love of big-dollar fundraising that are inherent in the qualifications for our political leaders. I don’t have the skill to write legislation that is conscious of the possibility unforeseen consequences. But it is easy to see that not everyone who wins an election is willing to put children first.
Pay attention to the next session of the legislature of South Dakota. The bills authorizing spending to fund prisons will be debated and passed before discussions of schools and children enter the halls of government.
It is not only the children of Sandy Hook for which we grieve. It is the children of our own community who daily go to underfunded schools with underpaid teachers while adults have the luxury of complaining about the amount of taxes on their 3,500 square-foot four-bathroom homes with two story entryways.
We have forgotten to put the children first.
And I don’t need to point fingers. The same is true of my own institution. Read our budget. It isn’t hard to see where our priorities are.
If we are to work toward a world where everyone’s children are safe and have a chance to thrive because the grown-ups care and never forget, we need to start with ourselves. Alligator tears, even when shed in public, are a poor substitute for a close look at our priorities.
These are complex problems. And you won’t read the answer in this blog. This much, however, I do know. We need to work together and we need to put the children first.
I’ve never met Seven-pound, 14-ounce Hazel Grace. Chances are I never will. Two years after Sandy Hook, a baby was born last Saturday evening at Fairview Hospital in Cleveland, Ohio. Defying the odds, she was born at 10:11 on 12/13/14. It is the last sequential date until January 2, 2034.
I don’t put much stock in luck. But 10:11, 12/13/14 seems like a good starting point. I pray that every year of her life will be marked by a decrease in violence against children and a fresh commitment on the part of adults to make this world a safe place for all children.