To: "purehumour"
Subject: [PureHumour © ] Gun Control...??? Part 1 of 3
From: "Paul Croft"
Hello all....
This
is NOT your regular issue of Purehumour...this is instead YOUR voices on a
sensitive issue. My opinions are not
expressed in the letters below....they were all sent to me in response to the
comments that I made on Wednesday March 1, 2000 regarding the school shooting
of a six-year old girl by a six-year old classmate. I must have hit a nerve because so many of
you took the time to write and voice your opinions! The overwhelming consensus...in my
opinion...is that the problem will NOT be solved by gun control...PARENTS need
to take control again instead! The full
names have been removed from all the emails...but they are on file if anyone
disputes any of the comments. If your
email was published here without your consent...I apologize to you in
advance...but if we can save the life of just ONE child with these words...then
we have all accomplished something.
Please feel free to forward this to whomever you feel would like to read
it...send it to your congressman (woman)...send it to the President....or just
send it to your address book.
Also
before I am challenged on this issue...let me plainly state that I am a
Canadian and therefore have only a passing interest in American politics...I
have NO hidden agenda...my only concern, and the reason for publishing this
special edition, is for OUR children.
Please do not take any of this as an endorsement of any political party
and/or any political group in the US!
On
another note...I never realized how big this project would become...you
obviously have feelings that you want to get out to the world....to the people
who have no opinion on this subject...and wish it would go away...please just
delete these emails NOW...to the rest of you...please read and learn from what
our fellow WORLD citizens are saying!
--Paul
I (Paul)
said:
Some
things in this world just don't make sense...when a six year old child has
access to a gun...and then uses that gun to kill a classmate in school...there
is something seriously wrong! When we
wake up and realize that we must do something to stop these kids from getting
guns...when will they realize that there is a better way to deal with their
problems....it was bad enough when these shootings occurred in high
schools...but when it graduates into a kindergarten class....what is next? Responses to the comments that I made on
Wednesday March 1, 2000 regarding the school shooting of a six-year old girl by
a six-year old classmate.
YOU (the readers)
said:
I
am a citizen of the USA. This country
has a lot of problems and one of the consequences of our problems is all the
violence in our schools. What do I think
causes this violence?
Taxes
take such a large percentage of our income that most mothers have to work
whether they want to or not. Argue
women's lib all you want - there's nothing as beneficial to a child as having
his/her mother available after school to monitor his activities. Make that a sober/drug-free mother in light
of the recent news reports on the latest shooting.
TV
violence that teaches children to punch, stab, shoot or blow-up anyone who gets
in your way or pisses you off. You say
violence on TV or in the movies doesn't affect the children who watch 100's of
hours of it every week? Tell that to the
advertisers who pay millions of dollars every year to get you to watch a few
minutes of commercial touting their products.
Music
videos and CD's that preach and glorify violence. If our children spend thousand of hours with
a CD booming hate and violence into their ears - can we expect them to be
loving and peaceful? If they listen to
music that preaches the glory of killing cops and raping virgins - can we
expect our children to respect authority and treat women gently. Can we expect our daughters to become kind
and nurturing if that is what they listen to during most of their waking hours?
Schools
that have not only banned the 10 commandments and prayer - but are actually now
teaching our children that there are no moral absolutes.
I
have a small shop in a small town. Do
you want to know how much inventory is stolen every year? I'm in my mid-forties. When I was growing up it was still considered
a crime to steal - and a shameful thing to be caught shoplifting. Now we have schools teaching our kids that
maybe it's not really wrong to steal if you really NEED something. Excuse me.
There's not one item in my shop that ANYONE needs. Wants - yes. Can't live without - not hardly.
When
I was growing up we all knew that actions had consequences. Pay attention in school, do your homework,
study for the exam and you get good grades.
Goof off and you fail and get held back a grade. Now everyone passes. There can't be any grades and no one can be
wrong because that is bad for self-esteem.
Our schools can't teach our children how to read, write, or do math -
but boy do those kids have healthy self- esteem!!
I
see the product of today's culture and school system walking past my shop all
the time. They look terrible, speak poor
English, swear to make a sailor blush (and the girls are worse than the boys),
have no respect for authority, and have poor self-control. But, they do have marvelous
self-esteem!!! And, yes, I am aware that
every "older generation" has looked down on every "younger
generation" from the beginning of time.
Then
there are other kids who are growing up with good morals, good work habits,
respect for authority, they speak properly and are a joy to be around. Some of them are being educated in public
schools - but most of them are being home schooled. They also have parents who are involved in
their lives. And they belong to a church
(it doesn't matter which religion) and are getting a good moral grounding. They work to earn the things they want.
Does
this mean that every child who goes to public school, has only one parent or
two working parents, doesn't attend church, is given too much money to spend
without having to earn it, or has no money at all, and has very little
supervision will turn out to be foul-mouthed, dishonest, criminal, lazy, and
violent?
No,
of course not. Some of the best people
have come from horrible conditions and have been able to rise above them. But, they were a minority.
Does
this mean that every child who comes from a two-parent home where the mother
doesn't work, attends church every week, and has a perfect up-bringing will
become a model citizen No, of course not.
Some of the worst people have come from the best conditions.
But,
if we have 14-years -olds having babies.
If the government awards girls for getting pregnant without being
married by paying them a monthly "allowance." If we have a government
that taxes married couples higher than singles who live together. If we have schools that teach our children
that there are no moral absolutes. If we
have schools that are teaching our children that actions have no consequences. If we have mis-leaders in the highest
positions of authority who "get away with it." And if we have
children who spend 100's of hours watching TV shows and music videos full of
mindless violence.
Why
are we surprised when one child brings a gun to school and kills another
child? -Jamie