We need to bring parents and educators together starting in early elementary school to nurture children's self esteem which will nurture their ability to become active participants in keeping schools safer. This raises the issue of family values. Every family has different values and what we would like to see are families expressing values such as compassion, tolerance and understanding. But at the same time there are families which value family talks, reading books, taking long walks together, pursuing religion and expressing their own unique faith. I think these school shootings give every person an opportunity to reflect on their own value systems and an opportunity for every parent to share what's truly important to them with their child.
Parents are the key to creating a safer and more peaceful community.
Whatever we can do to support parents and their children will only benefit the entire community. I remember many of my friends growing up had both physical and mental injuries from bullys. Many of the social problems that exist can be tracked to this type of aggresive behavior and by treating it during school years, we as a nation can save millions of dollars in health costs. Let's not let this problem become a one week cause, it needs to be addressed by schools on a permanent basis. This is not a situation that is going to go away in fifteen minutes or over the course of a nightly news program.