Last week, people watched in horrified disbelief as news of the killing of innocent children in a school in Conneticut, U.S.flashed on news channels worldwide.
This week, the sense of pain, torment and uncontrollable grief, that grips endless hearts, looms heavy, like a dark cloud, as families and friends of the victims, face the arduous ordeal of laying their loved ones to rest.
How do you bring closure, when your world has turned upside down? How can you feel anything besides anger, bitterness and a sense of despair, knowing that it could have been your child?
For years, when we dropped our children at school, there were tantrums at times, but we always knew they would be safe there. It is worrying to think it is no longer so, despite the fact that they spend so much of their growing years there.
Through all this, we also need to stop and think about the shooter, who ultimately shot himself. What kind of mental state was he in? What provoked him to initiate such a horrendous act? Was he dealing with his own demons, his insecurities? Everyone needs somebody to talk to, someone who cares, a sense of belonging.
Did that 20-year-old ever have that, or did he feel unloved and a non-entity?
Was there a cry for help that went unnoticed and resulted in this?
There has been a lot of talk about governments needing to take stronger action and restrict gun control, but will that really solve the problem? Maybe people also need to re-think how they bring up their children.
In today’s rat race, it is a struggle to find the balance between quality time with family and keeping up with the Joneses.
We have raised a bunch of latch-key children, many left unsupervised, doing their own thing and getting away with it.
But it goes without saying that although children are individuals in their own right, as parents how we nurture them today, goes a long way into making them the adults they are tomorrow.
When a child feels loved, respected and secure with strong family values, there is in all likelihood, that he will grow to become a caring, confident and responsible human being.
On the flipside, growing up within a home, where there is domestic violence, drug abuse, neglect, lack of family values and total indifference, chances are, that child will grow into a frustrated, depressed adult, with low self-esteem, lack of confidence no sense of direction.
Then again, despite a wonderful upbringing, peer pressure can sometimes create havoc in a child’s life.
It is convenient to play the blame game but instead, let’s ask ourselves, what we can do to prevent such a disaster from recurring.
Maybe we could start by being better role models, practising what we preach, about good behaviour and taking responsibility for our actions; maybe we could spend more time with our children, get to know them better, rather than work our butts off, just providing for their needs. Lets face it, life is not about fulfilling materialistic needs over emotional needs.
This is something that should never have happened and it has left a huge negative impact, more so on young minds that witnessed the attack, or simply heard about it.
For the moment though, let us focus our thoughts and prayers on the families who have lost their precious angels. Let us be supportive, in any little way that we can and then work towards maintaining safer communities.
Rest in peace little ones, rest in peace....
