Will We Learn from Friday’s Tragedy?
There was a tragedy on Friday.
We have not yet begun to dissect it. It is still raw. We are all grieving and cannot imagine the sorrow that fills the hearts of the community and families who loved the victims.
Soon every school will review its safety procedures—just as Sandy Hook school had.
This school was safe. It was isolated from urban streets and gangs and the things that first come to mind when we think of schools and violence.
The children weren’t poor nor were they “under-served.”
Security had already been addressed. The school doors were locked.
It didn’t matter. It didn’t matter in Sandy Hook. It didn’t matter in Lancaster.
When the tears begin to dry — if ever — the events will be analyzed again. President Obama has pledged reform. The age-old arguments will rise. The rights of the citizens to keep and bear arms will be upheld—and there will be another school shooting.
Why are schools targets? My guess: Schools are the nurseries of society’s social relationships. Mostly good happens there. When bad things happen, when the young first feel the sting of rejection, when the pain has sufficiently festered, it’s a place to return, literally and symbolically.
Most “senseless” crime begins with someone not caring enough to act. Someone not loving. Someone not helping. Someone not noticing injustice. Someone making us feel small.
Someone locking their heart’s door.
Locks make the people holding the key feel safe—and important—and in control.
There will be talk. There will be posturing. A law will be enacted which will have the same effect the current gun laws have. It will be called the Sandy Hook Law. There will be a ceremony in the White House. The victim’s families will be invited.
It might do some good.
In the end, nothing will change—unless we address our society’s communal sense of empathy.
Let us pray.
For the power to act, when our actions can do the most good.