Writers’ Pantry #80 I wrote this prosery for Weekly Scribblings, only to find it was beyond the144 word limit. It's a reworked rendition of something I wrote some time ago. It carries a message about which I feel strongly. Submitted July 25, 2021
BANG BANG!
“Bang. Bang. You’re dead”, the voice came through my window. The children in the neighborhood were playing war. Why don’t they play Rescue 911, I wondered. Do they ever play scientist, environmentalist, politician or negotiator?
The lilliputian army raged on into my neighbor’s yard, and I was left in silent aftermath thinking about the morning headlines. “Twelve year old killed in drive-by shooting”, they proclaimed. Drive-by shooting. What does this mean? A young life snuffed out in an instant, a grief-stricken family, a neighborhood terrorized. Just passing by? On the way to the Dairy Queen? Why do we teach our children to play war games? We indoctrinate them with television and movies that glamorize weapons. We make handguns readily available. We make death so easily accessible. Our children are killing themselves and one another. Last year an increasing and alarming number of young lives were ended by gunfire. For every victim dead of gunfire and grieving family left behind, count another youthful victim sitting in a jail cell somewhere, his family suffering, and all the rest of us paying for his keep.
We used to teach our children to respect their parents, their elders, their teachers and their peers,. We not only taught it, we demanded it. It’s been said a child’s first seven years are the formative years. Change begins at home…in diapers…and it’s not very complex. Simple lessons …. Be kind. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Let us pray for the return of strong parenting teaching simple lessons.
Yes yes yes and yes. Strong parenting will not return...it is not the prevailing societal preference....tis non pc and as a result we have the world in its present state of disaster.
ReplyDeleteI've never understood why certain parents give children (especially boys) toy guns and dolls that look like real babies. What messages are they sending? And why do they act surprised when the message is received and followed: boys shooting people, girls pregnant before they are done growing up. I, too, feel very strong about this topic. It's frustrating, unfortunate, and it seems that things are not changing fast enough... at least, not for the better.
ReplyDeleteP.S. The usual word count for the Weekly Scribblings is 369 words.
DeleteKudos on publishing this ... indoctrination is our enemy.
ReplyDeleteI trust that your prayer will be answered. No more random gun deaths!
ReplyDeleteAll so true. Although, in the early 60s I had a toy gun, a cap gun. I was a cowboy (no, not a cowgirl!) on a pretend horse. Now I wouldn't give a child a toy gun. Too dangerous. Strong parenting, yes. Sane gun laws are needed as well.
ReplyDeleteAmen It is so normalised. Many movies, games etc are incredible violent and children have access to them since an early age. They shouldn't make these movies games etc at all in the first place. That would already help
ReplyDeleteyes, the message is clear, let there be a return of strong parenting. children learn fast, they learn the bad stuff as fast as the good ones, and there are plenty of much more bad stuff out there, in this very connected world.
ReplyDeleteover here, the gun laws are very strict, some even called it draconian, but here we are, one of the safest countries in the world.
And the TV shows and movies portray the violence as pretty much normal, not something to excite horror and repulsion. Both children and adults become de-sensitised.
ReplyDeleteMy parents wouldn't let us have toy guns, and told us many times that if we ever found ourselves playing with one (at some other kid's home, for instance) we should NEVER point it at anyone.
I forgot when I posted this that we have many members who don't have the gun situation we have in the USA. My Australian friend made me well aware of the strict gun laws there. I wish we could have them here, but we now have so many guns "out there" it's not possible to unring the bell. (sigh)
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