Putting Things in Perspective

With the recent rash of school shootings in America, more than a few people are wondering just what has happened to the youth in this country. Theories and opinions about who or what is to blame for the seemingly callous disregard for life displayed by those involved have been argued on talk shows, on the TV news, and between neighbors. Copycat threats are cropping up all over the place, including here in Maine where threats have caused several schools to cancel classes. All these threats, thankfully, have proven to be hoaxes. The hot topic in Maine school districts these days is whether armed police officers should be placed on duty in the schools.

There can be no argument against the fact that the events played out in Colorado and other seemingly "safe" schools are tragic and serve as testament to the frailty with which a free society waivers between personal freedom and the safety of it's citizenry. However, as tragic and senseless as these events are, I'd argue that it is equally as tragic to plunge our schools, and the day-to-day lives of our children, into a police state based on the actions of a small handful of hopelessly misguided youths. Obviously, nobody wants to send their child to school in the morning, only to have them carted out in an ambulance in the afternoon. But in this age of in-your-face media coverage, where television and newspapers melt distance and bring death, destruction, and tragedy to our doorsteps on a daily basis, I think it's wise to remind ourselves of the "reality" we face every day in our communities and use this reality, rather than some generic, media-induced "portrait of America," as the basis for how we act and react to events.

There are approximately 60 million people in the US between the ages of 6 and 20. Sixty million is a lot of people. Of these 60 million kids, about 59,999,992 have not gone to school and shot somebody. Rather, these 59,999,992 children engage in activities that are not all that different from what you and I did when we were kids. They play little league baseball. They study for tests and do homework. They act in plays. They wonder who likes who and write that certain somebody's name all over their notebook. They drive up and down Main Street in tired, little towns, looking for things to do and friends to talk with. They put together yearbooks. They tell little white lies to thier parents about where they are going and who they are going with. In short, they are kids and they act like kids always have - sometimes "being good," sometimes getting in trouble - but always learning about life along the way.

A few weekends ago, I was sitting out on my deck doing nothing in particular, and was seranaded by the laughter and shouting coming from a group of kids who had gathered in the park next door to play soccer. This wasn't a formal practice, or a high school team, or anything like that, it was just a group of kids who had collectively decided to spend part of splendid spring day booting around a soccer ball. It brought back memories of pick-up football games and softball games that we used to have in our neighborhood, and the laughter and comraderie that they evoked. As I sat listening to the laughter, I couldn't help but feel a bit envious of their youth and the unlimited future which awaited them.

And it occurred to me that these kids, who have lived on a steady diet of television and computers and junk food and marketing hype, were really not all that much different from me and my friends of 30 years ago. We had problems then, just like kids have problems now. Sure, a lot of the problems may be different, but if I look back without the rose-colored glasses, I realize that many of the problems are the same. We all knew kids who went home and routinely got beaten by their parents. Drugs are prevalent now, but, in truth, they were prevalent 30 years ago, too. Parents got divorced and parents worked and sex sold then, just like it does now. And somehow, most of us came through it in relatively good form. And, I have a notion that most of today's kids will make it just fine as well.

That's not to say that we should shrug aside the school shooting incidents as something that could never happen in our town and live our lives with our heads in the sand. The seriousness and absurdity of these events should be discussed and kept alive in our collective consciousness. Treating these things with indifference, after all, is arguably a contributing factor to such behavior. But we must also keep a healthy perspective on how such events should be allowed to change our day-to-day lives. Placing armed guards in every school in America is not going to ensure violence-free schools or prevent shooting incidents. But it will most certainly increase our children's paranoia and enforce the notion that violence is a way of life in America. And once we do that, we slowly, but surely, will lose our most cherished of possessions - our freedom.

We don't read anything about 59,999,992 kids not getting into trouble. Nor should we - for when that becomes "news," rather than the normal way of life, then we really are in trouble. But it might do us good to remind ourselves of the fact once in awhile. For me, the laughter emanating from a group of kids playing soccer on a flawlessly gorgeous spring afternoon in an almost impossibly beautiful oceanfront setting was a refreshing reminder that, for the most part, a lot of things are right with the world.

Copyright ©1999 by Greg Closter (closter@acadia.net)