MJ, I apologize for this delay in responding to your post..I was on the road and probably shouldn't have entered this conversation..
Obama was speaking in broad strokes when he talked about Americans glorifying violence, tolerating it in the piece we're discussing..it resonated with my experience living and working in critical care nursing during the 80s and 90s..I also was involved in looking at violence/prevention in families and schools in Boston during the 90s..
Quite honestly, last week's tragedy at Virginia Tech has left me devestated, esp. since I now have the time to think about it..at so many levels and aspects of Cho's life, there was an opportunity to contain him, long before he committed this massacre..violence leaking out of the ghetto and into the suburbs is something we activists saw coming way before Columbine but we couldn't get people to listen..
One of my nephews was suffering a profound depression last year while a sophomore in college in the Northeast..my sister had a miserable time trying to get information and intervene on his behalf..what worked?..Sean's paternal uncle gives buckets of money to his school so the laws of confidentiality were overlooked and a tight communication/support system has been set up for my nephew..
One of the things I appreciate about Obama is that unlike the other candidates, his rallies and speeches are much less 'rah-rah,' "I'm your man" and more like conversations with his voice, at times low enough, that you have to be quiet in order to hear what he's saying..he also places the responsibility squarely on Americans to be part of the changes they're looking for government or for him to fix..while the others continue with "I'll fix it all for you." His speech in Selma, an example..
I don't have answers right now as gun control, etc. are being debated during the VT aftermath..until we listen to the social scientists' suggestions on what is going on in communities that are safe and healthy, we'll be lacking in meaningful interventions and policy..indeed, imho, until we, as individuals, realize that attitudes and policy that effect negatively on any child, no matter how far or close-by, is policy that will negatively impact our own day to day lives, we won't get anywhere..
edited for punctuation/grammar |
