Proverbs says, “Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.”
Responsible adults, whether they are Christians, Jews, Muslims, or agnostics, understand children need special care and guidance. They also require additional protection because they don’t yet know the ways of the world.
The young children at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. were no doubt like other elementary school students–eager, curious, funny and, most of all, innocent.
“They had their entire lives ahead of them–birthdays, graduations, weddings, kids of their own,” said President Obama in his address to the nation following the attack. “Among the fallen were also teachers–men and women who devoted their lives to helping our children fulfill their dreams.” (Editors note: it was later determined that all the adult victims were female.)
Our immediate reaction to the senseless slaughter is to try to understand why it happened. It’s as though if we understand why, if there were some rational explanation, it would hurt less.
But there is none, even as we learn more about the shooter.
Adam Lanza was most probably developmentally disabled in some way. He is described by those who knew him as an intelligent, socially awkward loner. He may have had Asperger’s syndrome.
We also know that Lanza’s mother, Nancy, was a gun enthusiast. She took her two sons to the rifle range to practice shooting with her semiautomatic pistols and rifles. Adam Lanza used those guns, which his mother obtained legally, to carry out his Friday morning massacre, starting with his own mother.
All the victims at the school–20 children and six adults–were shot multiple times.
Notably, the school had a security system, but Lanza simply shot his way into the building. The school principal and school psychologist were shot as they tried to tackle the gunman.
Even before we are past the shock and horror, we are asking significant questions about how such tragedies can be prevented in the future.
Do our schools have to become like airports post 9/11 with security teams, checkpoints and screenings?
Must schools have armed security guards who are trained to take down intruders at the first sign of danger?
Should the country–or individual states–begin a serious debate about additional gun control measures?
The answers are not easy because any significant change in security or gun ownership will feel to many like an erosion of the individual freedom and liberty we so value in this country.
But 20 children are dead, along with six adults who tried to protect them. What happened in Newtown is so appalling that it cannot be dismissed as a completely random and unpreventable attack.
The victims of Newtown deserve more than that.
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Comments
CaptainQ
Hoppy, there are some events that transcend politics or any other kinds of debate. This is one of those events.
Our most earnest prayers need to be with those families, friends and loved ones of those who lost their lives. We also need to pray for that entire community as well.
They'll be time to analyze all this later, but for now, that school, that community and so many people in it need peace and calm. Pointing fingers and playing 'airchair psychologist' won't help them at all.
December 16, 2012 at 8:31 pm | Report comment
Scott
Hoppy,
My mother was a grade school secretary for many years, who died unexpectedly soon after retirement in the early 1980s. She really enjoyed her work and would be totally flabbergasted in what the public school system has become.
I think one of the keys is the simple fact that this sort of thing just didn't happen back then, although I find it difficult to understand just what has changed to cause incidents like this tragedy.
It certainly wasn't the guns or lack of guns. My final speech in a speech class given on my last day of high school in the 1960s was about one of my rifles. I took it to class as a prop and no one thought anything of it. I still remember the Principal casually looking in the class room as he walked by. I won an award at Commencement for that talk! During the same period I legally bought a 22 semi automatic handgun out of state at the age of 17 or 18.
December 16, 2012 at 10:09 pm | Report comment
TD
The question is how do we handle the mentally ill, is there a way to identify an individual who poses this kind of threat? No parent wants to put their child in jail yet that is often the only option. Parents know they have children that are a danger but where can they go with them? Maybe Adam Lanza did not show how unstable he was prior to last week but I seriously doubt. And why would a mother who is a Kindergarten teacher and has a son with emotional problems have all these guns lying around? I feel sorry for all affected by this tragedy, I have experienced what the death of a young child does to a family and what it will do to this entire community. It will be a long time before happiness returns to Newtown. I think this is the saddest thing I have ever seen.
December 16, 2012 at 10:54 pm | Report comment
ShinnstonGuy
Everyone has rushed to blame the guns. While I am not in favor anyone owning semiautomatic weapons, I don't understand why we are re-evaluating mental health issues. I guess as Americans we are content with continuously sweeping all mental health issues "under the rug," yet they are a major reason for most of these shootings. If if this man's Asperger's was mild, one has to question why you would keep an abundance of ammunition where a person could reach it.
December 17, 2012 at 6:34 am | Report comment
ShinnstonGuy
On a completely different note, I can't stand the new format of this website. I used to log on in the morning and read the news stories, as they were posted chronologically in one column. Now there are two columns, and it is very hard to tell which direction one should read. I also don't see the "Other sports" category. Oh well, it is the current trend for all news-related websites to continue to get worse as they try to stuff more and more stuff into a small space.
December 17, 2012 at 6:37 am | Report comment
GregG
A very well written commentary Hoppy. Being a father of a 5 and a 10 year old it really hit home for me. First one is in shock, then heartbroke then comes the anger. But for me, the most upsetting part is how so many want to take such an event and immediately use it as fodder for their endless "God" and "Guns" argument. I'm pretty certain when all of this comes out we will find that our nations lack of dealing with persons who have mental health issues is more of a factor in this event than "Godless Schools" and "Gun Control". Will we address that issue? I have a feeling that question was answered back in the '80's with the closing of Weston and Spencer State Hospital. We didn't have the "funding" to operate these two hospitals then, so I'm sure there won't be any funds now. I'm afraid ShinnstonGuy is right, mental health issues will be swept under the rug.
December 17, 2012 at 8:39 am | Report comment
Chris
I believe we are in a battle for our children our kids are being desensitized by the violence they see in video games on tv. This country has lost its moral compass and it all starts out at home. More and more children are being raised by grandparents because of drugs and violence. There is no easy answer no quick fix we need to fight for our children and with that said some kind of gun restrictions should be on the table also but any changes must begin at home with the family structure.
December 17, 2012 at 9:31 am | Report comment
Sampeer
There is no way we can ever come to an understanding of why this happened. The only person that could even begin to answer that question is dead, that being the shooter, Adam Lanza. Sadly however, many with one agenda or another will use this tragedy, to advance their cause.
I don't pretend to be any expert on these type of happening. We can blame whatever or whoever we want, but we're just guessing. We need to remember that just as there is good, kindness, and love in this world, evil, corruption, and hate also exist.
Though I hope the politicians and those who want to use this to advance their agendas, tame down the rhedoric a bit, I doubt is that will be the case. I really hope people take a moment and look at the steady diet of violence kids society are fed in the name of entertainment. Now while I know that in itself, this is not a the root cause, I deeply beleive it is a contributing factor. As I said earlier, both good and evil exists. We have no choice but to accept that, fact. However, I wonder if we don't help evil along, by gloifying violence and sometime portraying good as being weak.
26 people are dead. Instead of letting the politicians and talking heads set the agenda, let's each of us take some time and consider where we are as a society and what we are allowing to become acceptable. This actually isn't an issue for the politicians to address, it is and issue each of us individually need to consider.
December 17, 2012 at 9:37 am | Report comment
TD
Agree with Shinnston Guy on the new site. Seems companies have "IT" people who feel they have to justify their existence by reworking websites, etc... Happens all the time with some of my suppliers and I usually find myself thinking you had right two or three versions ago, leave it alone!
December 17, 2012 at 10:26 am | Report comment
Shadow
You should never give a software guy license to do without rational overview, Windows 7 being a good example. Their purpose is to keep themselves employed.
December 17, 2012 at 11:00 am | Report comment
CaptainQ
It would have been nice to have at least a LITTLE WARNING before MetroNews decided to revamp this website.
Instead, to quote the once famous Pop song lyrics: "BOOM! There it is!"
Ever heard of 'public relations,' folks?
December 17, 2012 at 3:22 pm | Report comment
orangeguy
Quit your complaining.
December 17, 2012 at 6:16 pm | Report comment
Shadow
The Congress in all it wisdom has created a "Massacre Zone" one-half mile in diameter around the US Schools. How they found their right to do that in the Constitution I don't know. It is truly a State's Right. However, if you want to do a crime, any rational or irrational person will choose an area where weapons are not permitted for the honest people. As stated before, a weapon in the Principal's hand might have stopped this before all the carnage. The solution to the problem with school shootings is not to continue on the present method of gun control, let the teachers be armed. All one has to do is to look at the video of the old gent chasing the two young punks for the wifi cafe. At the first sound of a weapon, the ran quickly for the door. The Left is politicizing this issue by talking "Gun Control". The real problem is Mental Health and determination of those with serious problems. I am always amazed when I see the Talking Heads talk about gun control. It is so obvious that they have never purchased a gun as they would know that you declare yourself clear of any mental problems, drugs, etc. The background check only checks for crimes where you forfeit your right to have a gun, ie, a felon. I might note that the Talking Heads probably, and to quote Gordon Liddy, wouldn't know which end of a gun the round came out of.
December 17, 2012 at 10:55 am | Report comment
Uncle Fester
This new format sucks. Will now go somewhere else for news stories. Have you never heard of the saying, "If it isn't broke, don't fix it."????
December 17, 2012 at 11:32 am | Report comment
John S. Shackelford
The problem experienced in Newtown CT is of our own doing. The decline of he Nuclear Family due to the crazed womens movement has injured more women than it has helped. Women have a maternal instinct that pre-supposes that having children of their own is fundamental. They must decide whether their job is more important or their children. You can't have both. I am sorry, but that is the way mother nature planned it. That can't be altered.
Children of today are being born out of wedlock at a record pace, while marriages are currently more likely to fail than survive. Children are constantly pushing the enlevope, search the boundaries of their childhood. It is natural. Parents need to establish and enforce those boundaries. The result should be civility, responsibility and accountability.
Mental health problems of youth are increasing by the moment. Parents and teachers should be on the lookout for children who are likely to show low self esteem, which can and often does lead to a lack of social skills, sending an individual into a hermit mentality and an everybody is against me syndrome.
Drugs and alcohol! What can I say more about this problem. Enough has been said. I don't know of anything that would solve this problem. I only know that those people who acquire a need for such are doomed for the rest of their lives. We have advertised the need to be clean, but none of the fish are biting.
I was brought up in a slum with rats and roaches. Of course this was 50 years ago. Remarkably, I never thought I was poor. Much of my teenage life was spent in the classroom and on the basketball court. My parents adhered to a code of godliness and cleanliness. Flip Wilson played in a movie, where he was a church minister. During the sermon he declared, "What this congregation need is more midnight sleepin and less midnight creepin"! I didn't use drugs, alcohol or cigarettes. Much different from that attitude of my life class. Fought in a war, educated under the GI Bill and gainfully employed for 34 years. I had a lot of things going against me but I persevered, with as little problem to society as possible.
Guns are not the underlying culprit in Newtown CT. Access to a firearm will always be easy to obtain for those that are bent on doing evil to others. The underlying causes are those I outlined. Until we deal with those, the problem will never be solved.
December 17, 2012 at 12:13 pm | Report comment
dp
Why?
The Supreme Court has declared it is lawful to kill or murder the innocent since it issued the decision on January 22, 1973 concerning Roe vs Wade. American culture has accepted this action as normal and these atrocities are now committed every day. Our current President is correct in declaring "he isn't doing enough to protect the innocent". However, he has also stated numerous times in the political arena that this court ruling was a good decision for America. What, therefore, could he know about being a father? It would behoove the people of this country to adopt the standard of the highest authority (God) whom avows that the hands that shed innocent blood is an abomination to Him.
December 17, 2012 at 12:15 pm | Report comment
Richard
Good editorial Hoppy. This tragedy is beyond understanding, and when we can no longer comprehend what has unfolded in our midst, we must begin a dialogue. We must put everything on the table and have the courage to search deep. I am very proud that our Senator was willing to deliver that message, at considerable political risk, today. I look forward to seeing him lead us in the ongoing discussion about violence in our nation and how we can address this growing and pervasive evil in our midst. Lastly, I hope we will all recognize that it is time to conventrate on putting our own house in order rather than telling others how to arrange theirs. America needs healing and we cannot do that if we are constantly at war overseas.
December 17, 2012 at 12:47 pm | Report comment
mntnman
The tragedy of the past week will be with us forever. We are unable to understand the behavior or motives of those who are mentally deranged or evil. They are not like the rest of us. That is why they are so hard to defend against. They do not look at small children and see innocence and love; they see targets. They do not care about societal norms or proper behavior. No, they act in ways we cannot begin to understand and challenge us to somehow solve the riddle.
We can certainly make schools fortresses. But then the crazed will simply wait until before or after school, at recess or some other time when children are vulnerable. A dedicated assailant can and will get to our children -- no matter what we do.
I cannot get my head around the acts so violent and profane that they defy belief and description. I am at loss on this one. I do know that we must come to grips in our country with what this means. We must act together to try and do the best we can to prevent this tragedy from being repeated; even though we cannot really prevent it. We must make our children as safe as we can. I am just uncertain how to do that. I do not know the answer.
What I do know is this. I cannot and will not subscribe to the mentality that we must all become islands unto ourselves; that our children must live in fear. I cannot and will not hide away from potential threats because I am afraid of the boogeyman, real as he may be. I refuse to give into fear and hate and suspicion.
I chose instead to work with others to make our world safer -- to find solutions -- to work as a community toward a better world. I will not give in to these madmen. They will not win. I am not afraid. And I will not let my children or grandchildren live in fear. Ultimately, we will prevail. Because we must prevail.
December 17, 2012 at 1:05 pm | Report comment