Simply creating restrictions won’t fix a problem. We need to teach compassion.

This past week a national tragedy occurred that may never be explained.  Some sad individual went on a shooting rampage and killed 26 people, 20 of them children ages 10 years and younger.  As with almost any tragedy there is automatic reaction.  In this case there are calls for gun control and restrictions.  There are also calls for better understanding of mental illness.  There will be debates ongoing and there maybe some changes made in gun laws but if so I personally do not think they fix the problem.

For disclosure purposes I am a gun owner and I have my carry permit.  The purpose of this blog though is not to argue for or against what I perceive as my rights.  My ownership of these items that range from rifles to  handguns have no direct bearing on what took place last week or why it happened.  I do believe though that taking these things away from me won’t keep a similar tragedy from happening again.

In all honesty I think society needs to do a few things other than simply creating new restrictions to cause positive change.  First maybe it will take a look at our culture and the glorification of violence that exists with in it.  The body count in movies and TV is outrageous and concern is only established for lead characters.  Send a hundred men to die in an ambush and no one cares.  Send a Ned Stark to the gallows and people freak out.

What about the games we play.  Technology has provided some cool opportunities in this day and age.  The violence in these opportunities seems to have increased significantly though.  Just look at the names of the games: Grand Theft Auto, Assassin’s Creed, Call of Duty.  In all of these games you are a winner if you kill people or break the law. 

Another avenue of concern should be our media.  They glorify tragedy.  Whether its a nurse who has hung herself, a plane crashing into buildings or children being shot they make sure it is front and center.  In this process they mainly focus on the evil doer, not the victim.  They make them legends by default, someone for future bad guys to look up to or emulate.  They are so impatient for these things to occur they will make mistakes, use bad information or blame the wrong person just to make sure the story hits the front page by deadline.  They will even distort information to make it more juicy.  It also all happens in real time.  Live feeds of people running from buildings, people crying and ambulances taking off with victims. 

I have to admit though I enable them as much as the next person.  I watch the movies, I play the games, I read the news.  So why do I not feel the sudden urge to go on a rampage?  Why do I know that it isn’t right?  I would venture to say because at some point in time I learned that these things were wrong.  I learned to respect life.  I learned there are consequences not just for me but for others because of my actions.  I learned the difference between entertainment and reality.  A lot of this came from religion and faith but some of it came from simple conversations with good human beings. It also came from my parents.  They monitored what I did and had conversations with me when needed. They taught me the concept of compassion and caring for others.

That is one of the things I think needs to change now.  I don’t feel confident that these things are being taught well if at all.  I am not sure the conversations are happening when they are needed.  If we are not teaching compassion and respect for life how can we expect these tragic things will go away?  History proves that simply outlawing something doesn’t stop it.  Prohibition didn’t stop drinking.  Speed limits didn’t stop speeding.  It is against the law to murder someone but that didn’t stop the young man that did it last week.  We can put more rules in place but if we don’t change our culture or at least try to teach compassion at the same time we teach our kids how to do mass killings (via movies and games) we will see this all happen again, and again and again.

I don’t think we have to wait any longer to have these conversations but I would argue that we need to be careful of what immediate solutions we find.  Are they of a political/philosophical persuasion being pushed via the vehicle of tragedy or are they an acknowledgment of an issue and focused on trying to solve a problem?  Also who can solve it and how?  Is the Federal Government able to enter our homes and monitor/educate/teach?  Is it a community responsibility?  Is it a family responsibility?  I am sure you could say yes to all but at what percentage and who gets to do what?

Just my thoughts on a sad Monday morning.