While disturbed parents campaign to restrict and ban information and books from schools and libraries, and politicians enact laws to whitewash American history and eliminate any mention of sexuality or racism, our children are subjected to daily trauma every time they enter their schools.
They are forced to undergo active shooter drills, reminding them that, at any moment, someone could walk in and kill them. We expect them to absorb their lessons and perform well on tests, while suppressing the terror that they could be massacred sitting at their desks. This is not just child neglect or abuse. It’s complicity, not only in their inability to think and learn, but in their murder.
These “parental rights” advocates—supposedly working to protect their purportedly delicate children from discomfort, “indoctrination,” and “groomers” (pedophile enablers) at school—do nothing effective for their children’s rights to a safe environment. The kids know this.
We fret about our children’s poor scholastic achievements and deteriorating mental health while we condemn them to chronic psychological stress, subverting their trust in teachers to tell them the unvarnished truth and trust in their parents to secure a place where their natural curiosity and enrichment can blossom.
Shame on us.
David Broadwater
Atascadero
This article appears in Apr 13-23, 2023.
We have the progressives and their media whipping the public into a panic over a far smaller actual risk than the many other dangers that kids routinely face, like drugs and car accidents, and then wonder why the kids are stressed out? Maybe if they stopped using kids as props for their campaign to ban guns, the kids might be able to focus on their studies.
“far smaller actual risk than the many other dangers that kids routinely face”
Here are some facts, rather than the Fox News propaganda that Donegan continues to peddle:
Guns are the leading cause of death among American children and teens, surpassing car accidents in 2020.
Firearm deaths among children occur at a rate 5 times higher than drowning.
Since Columbine in 1999, 338,000 students in America have experienced gun violence at school.
https://www.sandyhookpromise.org/blog/gun-…
https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/29/health/us-c…
In civilized parts of the world, such as virtually every other nation, school shootings are non-existent. What separates the U.S. from those countries is the abundance of guns. Americans own nearly 400,000,000 of them, roughly 1.2 for every man, woman and child. Republicans can minimize it all they want, but the body count will continue to climb as long as we permit so many guns to circulate on our streets.
Mike, the letter was about school shootings.
338,000 children have experienced “school shootings.” I’d say I was right on topic.
Kind of loose usage of the term “experienced”.
How did the chilrdren forced to practice nuclear bomb treats survive?
I, personally, do not recall any “drills” during WW II, tho’ I am sure there must have been some since I do recall a seachllight guraded by soldiers [including a tent] we passed on the way to school. Since I don’t remember any drills, they must not have damaged me much. A book I have from those years has WAR WAR WAR written on the inside cover so I knew what was happening. Dad was away in the US Navy. We were in a “Home for Boys and Girls’ .
My point: A few “drills’ will not lead to the massive damaged individuals and low test scores.
Again, an appeal about “the Children” for a political purpose. In this case forgetting the 2nd which protects the 1s to the 10th and the Constitution itself.
Gail, the likelihood of a nuclear attack was virtually non-existent in the 50’s and 60’s. It was out of an abundance of caution that the schools had drills. In fact, zero was the number of children who actually experienced such an event. As for guns, since 1999, 338,000 (a third of a million) children have been in close proximity to a school shooting and knew of someone who was killed.
The nation is awash with guns and as long as we continue to minimize that fact, more and more children will be killed by them.
One possible step in the right direction would be to ban assault rifles. They are weapons of war, and my father, who hunted elk and deer, would be horrified that such weapons are now rampant on our streets. Many of these mass shootings involve these weapons.
Please Gail, take some time to listen to the pediatric physician who describes the effects of a shooting with an AR-15:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-bNkCO5A1…