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Murphy’s Law, written by Barbara Murphy, appears monthly in The Golden Times. The column represents the opinion of the author and is not necessarily the opinion of the publisher.
In Wake Of Our Failures, Let’s Make
2013 The Year Of The Child
How do we forever honor the memory of the 20 children and six teachers who were shot to death last month in a Newtown, Connecticut elementary school?
I say “forever” because it would make a mockery of their deaths simply to light a few candles, say a few prayers, call for gun control and then forget about the whole thing.
The killings simply cannot be forgotten. They were not only horrifying in themselves but they were also horrifying in that they laid bare the fact that we live in a blood soaked culture that cherishes guns and is indifferent to the fact that thousands of children are shot to death every year, most on the means streets of our urban slums.
We wept — and rightly so — for the victims of the Newtown mass killing, but sadly it’s only such a mass killing that gets our attention. We should weep for all the murdered children and dedicate our lives to ending the slaughter and creating a society where every child is safe from violence — and also safe from malnutrition and ignorance.
A friend of mine, Michael Sikorski, who is a retired teacher, suggested in the wake of the Newtown murders that the nation make 2013 “The Year of the Child” — a year in which we would all commit ourselves to the noble task of saving our children from the evils of a society where the gun is worshipped and the needs of children are too often ignored.
I’m talking, of course, basically about poor children. Most children who are shot to death in America live in urban slums where armed gangs rule the streets and the main source of employment is the illicit drug trade. Thousands of children are shot to death each year in these violent neighborhoods.
U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said he learned about the slaughter of innocents first hand when he was Chief Executive Officer of Chicago’s public schools. He said it seemed that a child was shot to death in that city every two weeks.
In the days since the Connecticut killings, more Americans then ever before are demanding gun control. Meanwhile, gun sales have soared — more proof that too many of us love guns more than kids.
Our first order of business in “The Year of the Child” should be the enactment of tough gun laws that ban assault weapons, get hand guns off the street (no matter what it takes to do that), bar the sale of guns to anyone who lives in a home where there is a child under 21, require rigid background checks of every gun buyer and ban films and video games that wallow in gratuitous violence.
Gun control will be a big task in itself but we also have to make sure that our children are healthy and smart, as well as safe.
Again, it’s our poor children who suffer the most from lack of nutritious food. No, these kids are not starving to death, but their bodies are suffering because they eat cheap, fast food instead of nutritious food which is more expensive. Some how, we have to make more fruits and vegetables available to poor families at a price they can afford and in market places that don’t require two or three bus trips to reach.
One way to make sure that kids get at least one nutritious meal a day would be to require that all students eat lunch at school and serve only nutritious food.
Another problem related to child health is that too few of our children — rich or poor — get enough exercise, which is essential to a healthy body and a healthy brain. Schools should be required to make physical activity a regular part of the daily curriculum and to make sports available to every child no matter what the level of his or her athletic skill.
Finally, but perhaps most importantly — we’ve got to make sure that all our kids achieve the American dream by providing them with the education they need to escape poverty and neighborhoods where violence reigns.
Study after study has shown that children who are avid readers succeed in school and in life. Our job is to make sure that all children are avid readers and this can only be done by putting books in the hands of children as soon as they can hold them up. Little children love pop-up books and if they have them they go on to love all kinds of books. However, they must be encouraged to read and be read to. That of course is a big problem. Too many children — particularly poor children — are raised by single parents who are too poor to buy books and too tired and stressed from working and running a household to read to their children.
Here’s where we all could help in some way. Some of us could volunteer to read to children, even in their homes or at libraries, churches or other community settings. Those who can’t be readers could be “buyers.” It’s very important to give children books that they can keep forever. Children look upon the books they own as friends. They love their books and are proud to own them.
My friend, Michael Sikorski, is right. The finest memorial we can erect to honor the memory of the 26 Newtown martyrs is to make life better for all children — to keep them safe from violence and make sure they are well fed and well-read.
This would be a permanent commitment. “The Year of the Child” would not only be 2013 but 2014, 2015 and on and on forever. Yes, all this will cost a lot of money, but that’s what money is for. As John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, said “make all can and give all you can.”
*
Barbara Murphy, 80, writes about controversial issues each month.
2013 The Year Of The Child
How do we forever honor the memory of the 20 children and six teachers who were shot to death last month in a Newtown, Connecticut elementary school?
I say “forever” because it would make a mockery of their deaths simply to light a few candles, say a few prayers, call for gun control and then forget about the whole thing.
The killings simply cannot be forgotten. They were not only horrifying in themselves but they were also horrifying in that they laid bare the fact that we live in a blood soaked culture that cherishes guns and is indifferent to the fact that thousands of children are shot to death every year, most on the means streets of our urban slums.
We wept — and rightly so — for the victims of the Newtown mass killing, but sadly it’s only such a mass killing that gets our attention. We should weep for all the murdered children and dedicate our lives to ending the slaughter and creating a society where every child is safe from violence — and also safe from malnutrition and ignorance.
A friend of mine, Michael Sikorski, who is a retired teacher, suggested in the wake of the Newtown murders that the nation make 2013 “The Year of the Child” — a year in which we would all commit ourselves to the noble task of saving our children from the evils of a society where the gun is worshipped and the needs of children are too often ignored.
I’m talking, of course, basically about poor children. Most children who are shot to death in America live in urban slums where armed gangs rule the streets and the main source of employment is the illicit drug trade. Thousands of children are shot to death each year in these violent neighborhoods.
U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said he learned about the slaughter of innocents first hand when he was Chief Executive Officer of Chicago’s public schools. He said it seemed that a child was shot to death in that city every two weeks.
In the days since the Connecticut killings, more Americans then ever before are demanding gun control. Meanwhile, gun sales have soared — more proof that too many of us love guns more than kids.
Our first order of business in “The Year of the Child” should be the enactment of tough gun laws that ban assault weapons, get hand guns off the street (no matter what it takes to do that), bar the sale of guns to anyone who lives in a home where there is a child under 21, require rigid background checks of every gun buyer and ban films and video games that wallow in gratuitous violence.
Gun control will be a big task in itself but we also have to make sure that our children are healthy and smart, as well as safe.
Again, it’s our poor children who suffer the most from lack of nutritious food. No, these kids are not starving to death, but their bodies are suffering because they eat cheap, fast food instead of nutritious food which is more expensive. Some how, we have to make more fruits and vegetables available to poor families at a price they can afford and in market places that don’t require two or three bus trips to reach.
One way to make sure that kids get at least one nutritious meal a day would be to require that all students eat lunch at school and serve only nutritious food.
Another problem related to child health is that too few of our children — rich or poor — get enough exercise, which is essential to a healthy body and a healthy brain. Schools should be required to make physical activity a regular part of the daily curriculum and to make sports available to every child no matter what the level of his or her athletic skill.
Finally, but perhaps most importantly — we’ve got to make sure that all our kids achieve the American dream by providing them with the education they need to escape poverty and neighborhoods where violence reigns.
Study after study has shown that children who are avid readers succeed in school and in life. Our job is to make sure that all children are avid readers and this can only be done by putting books in the hands of children as soon as they can hold them up. Little children love pop-up books and if they have them they go on to love all kinds of books. However, they must be encouraged to read and be read to. That of course is a big problem. Too many children — particularly poor children — are raised by single parents who are too poor to buy books and too tired and stressed from working and running a household to read to their children.
Here’s where we all could help in some way. Some of us could volunteer to read to children, even in their homes or at libraries, churches or other community settings. Those who can’t be readers could be “buyers.” It’s very important to give children books that they can keep forever. Children look upon the books they own as friends. They love their books and are proud to own them.
My friend, Michael Sikorski, is right. The finest memorial we can erect to honor the memory of the 26 Newtown martyrs is to make life better for all children — to keep them safe from violence and make sure they are well fed and well-read.
This would be a permanent commitment. “The Year of the Child” would not only be 2013 but 2014, 2015 and on and on forever. Yes, all this will cost a lot of money, but that’s what money is for. As John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, said “make all can and give all you can.”
*
Barbara Murphy, 80, writes about controversial issues each month.