Shooting off a Meme about the Florida School Shooting

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I was on one of my FaceBook lists and there was a conversation about a meme. The Meme was of a Tee that said:

Dear G-d, [G-d spelled out on the Meme/Tee]
Why do you allow so much violence in our schools?
signed, a concerned student

Dear Concerned Student.
I'm not allowed in the schools
G-d [again, spelled out on the Tee]

It's so funny (as in ironic) that so many people are trying to find the answer. But there is no easy answer to evil in general, to school shootings to get more specific, or this precise school shooting. It's not that G-d isn't around, isn't allowed there. It's that, in order to give us free will, freedom of choice, G-d had to permit evil to exist, the evil that people do. 

There are several different elements to the discussion that I'd like to address:

1) The issue of Gun Control Laws: 
The issue isn't whether availability of the gun made this easier. Gun issues are a separate matter, IMHO -- to be honest, even though I'm a "dyed-in-the-wool" "card-carrying" Liberal, I don't believe that gun control laws, in any form, have the power to prevent all these sorts of attacks. I do believe that there should be some sort of gun control but we can never, as our current national ethos is today, keep guns out of everyone's hands.

2) The issue of school size:
More of an issue is that schools are becoming factories where the state (or municipality) is trying to educate as many students as possible in as big a building as possible. Why do we need to have mega-schools? 

I went to an elementary school that had fewer than 100 students and a High School that had something like 250-300 students (all girls). I knew everyone, teachers, students, principals (well, I spent enough time in their offices), office staff, custodians. If someone came in, we had a loud bell at the door during school hours. If a new student came in she was introduced to classmates. If someone who didn't fit came in and didn't go directly to the principal's office (which was right near the door) we all would have noticed. I didn't even know there were such huge schools as there are today.

3) The issue of Religion in the Schools:
Religion not being in the school doesn't affect all this. Which religion would be in the school? Why don't we teach morality? Does the Meme-ist consider Torquemada to be very moral since he was religious? Does (s)he think no one ever hid behind religion as an excuse to murder people?  

From my perspective, murder is no more the purview of the "godless" (irreligious, atheistic, agnostic) than of  religions and religious people. Being "religious" (as in piously following your religion) doesn't guarantee morality -- religious laws and Bible quotes and verses have been perverted by so many that often enough people fall back on religion to justify their evil. Religion doesn't insure morality. Lack of religion doesn't necessarily lead to immorality. 

4) The issue of politics of the shooter:
Why does it matter what the boy's politics are? So many run to this -- as if his being either a radical "leftist" or a fascist would explain it all (particularly if you are on the "other side of the fence" politically). Neither side has a corner on the truth market nor on the crazies market. 

5) The issue of pressure put on HS students (particularly boys) to plan their future:
In our white-male centric country there is often a perception, particularly among white non-minority males, that they are owed something, that it's the responsibility of their teachers, the government, or who/whatever to supply them with a menu of futures to choose from. They shouldn't have to exert themselves, they often believe, to be the "alphas" -- they are born with that right. We are raising a generation of spoiled young men who feel a strong sense of entitlement. 

But study after study has shown that  the givers are happier than takers. These boys grow up not doing much for themselves and get to the age where they need to start "doing something" and when their expected windfall doesn't come, they blame blacks, and Jews, and women, and Latinos, the government, the civil rights movement, everyone and everything but themselves. Perhaps the education system is failing them by not training them to rise to their highest level and perhaps we need to instill in our young people the need to, as we used to say in the 60s, "find themselves" and create a life for themselves.

So, while some say there are too many guns that are too available and others say not enough "law-abiding" people have guns, I present this as a plan for preventing these shootings (which are overwhelmingly committed by young white males):

1) Gun licenses for gun ownership with tests like driver's license: 

Just like people can't get a driver's license until they prove they can handle a car (such as it is), perhaps we shouldn't allow anyone who hasn't proven they know how to shoot a gun to own one. The test for the license might also be used to at least partially weed out people who might use them for the wrong reason.

2) Smaller Schools can instill better character traits in our next generation: 

Schools need to be small enough that everyone knows everyone else. The school "family" needs to work as a unit, work to introduce our students, our next generation's leaders, to the realities of life. While we need to encourage students in their talents, we also need to teach them that the country (and the world), like a sports team, works best when everyone does his/her part. They all need to be taught that there are no free rides. We need to stress John F. Kennedy's quote "Ask not what your country can do for you; Ask what you can do for your country". Smaller schools would give each student more of an opportunity to feel like part of the team.

3) Morality and Ethics:

I think what we need to teach in schools is the value of each life and how killing one person is like killing the whole world (since you "kill" all the people who would come from that person). We need to draw a distinct line between killing and murder and show young people there is never a justification for murder. We need to raise a generation that doesn't see murder as a solution, or even as a possibility. We all have issues, we have all run into the proverbial "brick wall" in dealing with life. We need to teach that we can NEVER think that murder is the answer or EVER think that injuring someone is the solution.

4) Politics and blame:

Instead of pointing a finger, instead of turning a major tragedy into a political fight, we need to come together and work out solutions without "the blame game" and without guilting one's political "enemies". This is a bipartisan issue. NRA supporters don't want young people mass murdered in their schools any more than Gun Control supporters do. Each side sees the issue differently and, from where I sit, probably both sides have a point and both sides have some flaws in their perspective. With both sides confabbing on this issue we can meld together a workable solution that would prevent most of these attacks (we don't really know how many are prevented at this point since we only hear about the attacks during which people are killed). The "fault" lies not in our legislators but in the murderer. 

5) The perception of white male privilege:

White Privilege is not just an issue for non-whites (and women). The more we talk about White Privilege, the more young white males think it exists in as much as they think it entitles them to treat non-white/non-males as slaves to do their bidding. Teachers, employers and other people of influence often act as though while males are "better" than non-white/non-males. Sports stars have this perception of privilege when it comes to grades and other things and by giving them what appears to be a "free ride" is not helping them or the country or the world. We must work to teach our students that they are capable of anything they put their minds to. We must teach them that a life without work, a life where you only receive but never contribute is an empty life, a life devoid of meaning and happiness. We need to teach them to give their own lives meaning, to show them how to contribute to the world and life in this country and on this planet. We need to be roll models to them by living our own lives this way.

If we put all these (and possibly other) pieces into the puzzle of mass murder, we might just change the complete picture and make this country and this world a better place to live.