The Newtown school tragedy has dominated our media coverage for the past three days, with little real factual information on just what may have precipiated this heinous tragedy, with the young adult reportedly responsible still a mystery.
What would possess another child (20 is hardly an adult) to commit such an act of violence?
The media has been having a field day, with all those advertising spots geared toward ratings with their hooks of "prime time exclusive coverage" of this tragedy. Interviewing children, mind you, who are still in shock and hardly reliable witnesses to just what occurred, or even at this point able to process their personal losses and feelings.
Parents,still in shock and disbelief, whose children are now gone solicited to give the local and national television their reactions and demonstrate publicly the extent of their loss when the grieving process has hardly even begun.
And politicians using this event once again to foster their own personal agendas.
I read recently that this event is hardly the largest loss of life by children in America’s history.
Reportedly, in the 1920s an even larger loss of life, over 30 young children, were killed after a dispute by a parent with the local school board. Yet during the 1950’s parents sent their children off to school without a second thought.
These children were mere babes, which makes the media and sensationalized versions of this story even more of a ratings generator.
Children who had hardly even begun their lives, slayed before they could really have a life.
With all the calls for gun control, it is interesting to me that the incidences such as these are increasing, as our tech focused culture also has increased.
I mean, this was as has been reported, a very tech savvy and bright child who committed this crime.
Maybe instead of calling for increases in gun control, maybe more control of our tech focused culture is in order here.
How many of those violent video games was this child exposed to during his own youth, by parents apparently on the fast track who were unable or unwilling to truly parent their child?
Why is there no regulations for the sale or rentals of these violent and blood thirsty video games as there are with movies requiring that a parent either be present or sign off on the games our children rent or buy?
The true story behind this violent act may never be known, but this child definitely was either not right in the head, or had been exposed to so much violence in his own life that his own violence didn’t register in his conscience thought process.
Or maybe he did have a vendetta against this particular school, for whatever reasons we may never know.
But the politicians using this act as another campaign promise, or as with the president, legacy is certainly a knee jerk reaction.
And most likely, the wrong one.
My question too, if as has been reported, his mother was a gun lover and used to go to target practice, why would she even have had assault weapons as part of her arms arsenal.
I mean, target practice hardly requires assault weapons.
And home and life protection merely takes a hand gun.
As another single woman who at one time was single parenting my children, can see where this might be a concern.
And again, why are the photographs of this young man once again ones which are over 10 or 12 years old?
There is still much that sounds awfully strange in this story…but maybe that is also the point.
Keep the public in the dark.
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