shooting

(Originally posted in the Stratford Star newspaper on January 13, 2011, in “Walsh’s Wonderings”) We have failed. If we don't acknowledge our failure, if we choose to ignore reality and maintain the low standards we currently encourage, then we are complicit in the violence and bigotry in which we sometimes find ourselves surrounded. As I write this, U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords remains in critical condition after a gunman shot her in the head at a political event in Tucson, Arizona. The gunman, 22-year-old Jared Lee Loughner, went on to kill six people and wound 14 others. Christina Taylor Greene, a nine-year-old killed in the shooting, had just been elected to the student council at her elementary school. This hit me particularly hard as I am a middle school English teacher, a part of a group of educators charged with molding the minds of tomorrow's leaders. We are part of a pact that includes not only the students and their parents, but also every adult in their community. It is our failure, one of many, that has deprived Christina and many more like her the opportunity to grow up and help us in spite of ourselves. Democrats are to blame. As are Republicans, Libertarians, Tea Party activists, and every other political party that has muddied the waters for short term gains at the cost of long term viability. Even as Representative Giffords fights for her life, factions are lining up on both sides of the political fence to use the tragedy to further their political agendas. In an age where even our elected leaders act like children, why can't we see the effect this has on our youth? Would you tell a child like Christina to draw gun targets over the heads of classmates to indicate those on the student council with whom she disagrees, or would you have her talk it out with them to avoid needless fights in the future? Would you teach her to shout down her opponents during council debate, or would you teach her to use the allotted time to discuss her points in healthy discussion in the hope that a mutually agreeable compromise might be met?  Would you teach her to divide her world into people who agree with her and those who do not, or would you teach her to appreciate the diversity of opinion that has made this country great? Sadly, it's too easy to answer these questions by pointing out how our society has lowered the bar. We've answered these questions with television ratings for Keith Olbermann or Glen Beck at the cost of shows that actually present unbiased views. We've answered them with Lady Gaga and Eminem over musicians whose purpose is to help us better understand the human condition. We've answered them with books deals for Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi and Justin Bieber and reality televisions shows for Paris Hilton and Flavor Flav. No, there is something far more dangerous afoot. While the shooting was as senseless as the rhetoric that preceded…