SHOULD WE ALL WEAR BODY ARMOR?

A year ago, if you’d talked about getting a bullet proof vest, people would have thought you needed to see a psychiatrist. But now, I’m beginning to wonder if that’s what the future holds for people who step outside their homes. We who live in small towns don’t see mass shootings as something that would happen to us. After all, everyone knows everyone else, one way or another. Six degrees of separation are more like two when the population is under 100,000. But the truth is, we aren’t as safe as we think. Should we all wear body armor at work, school, church, and when shopping? If domestic terrorism continues at this year’s pace, the idea doesn’t seem so far out.

Trouble is, bullet proof vests are expensive and uncomfortable. Going on the net, you find that one offering decent protection runs around $400. Say you’re a family of four. That’s fairly pricey. And do we really want to scare our kids by suggesting that they need to protect themselves from a knife or bullet?

There’s also the issue of inner wear and outer wear. Supposedly, it’s better if everyone can see that you’re wearing a protective vest. But I’m not so sure of that. If the perpetrator really wants to harm you, he’ll just aim for another place on your body that isn’t covered.

Contrary to popular belief, it is not illegal to purchase a bullet proof vest, unless you are a convicted felon. However, people might look at you oddly, and a police officer might view you with suspicion. On the other hand, if it became a common practice, you would fit right in with the crowd.

I’m seeing a business opportunity here for some enterprising entrepreneur. Come up with an inexpensive form of body armor. Mass produce bullet proof vests and sell them at Walmart in every size, even for kids. I’m betting they would sell out pretty fast.

If you think it’s been miserable being forced to wear masks during the pandemic, just wait until the government decides we all need to wear bullet proof vests.

June 4, 2021June 5, 2021

SCOTUS OK’D VIOLENT VIDEO GAMES

Politicians are always arguing about the pros and cons of gun control. Every time there’s a mass shooting, the pressure ramps up to increase legislation. I have to agree. Why in the world would any normal human being need an assault weapon in order to get through life? On the other hand, people have always had guns in this country. It’s how the West was won, as the saying goes. But we didn’t always have video games. In the year 2011, the United States Supreme Court ruled that any regulation of the content of video games violated freedom of speech. Consequently, in the past ten years, mass shootings have tripled in this country. It’s obvious: Scotus OK’d violent video games –and it was a bad decision.

This week, a 14 year old girl broke into a Florida home, and used the owners assault weapon to open fire on sheriff’s deputies. Her 12 year old accomplice later told investigators that the 14-year-old had said, “I’m gonna roll this down like GTA,” referring to the video game Grand Theft Auto.

An international study published in 2018 looked at more than 17,000 adolescents, ages nine to 14, over a period of 4 years.. They found that playing violent video games led to increased physical aggression over time. . High levels of violent video game exposure are linked to delinquency, fighting at school and during free play periods, and violent criminal behavior.

Scotus ok'd violent video games and it was a mistake — Scotus ok’d violent video games in 2011. Since then, mass shootings have tripled.

In 2017, the American Psychological Task Force on Violent Media found that violent video game exposure increases aggressive thought and behaviors. Such games can also desensitize people to violence. The longer that children watch these games. the more likely they are to have aggressive behaviors, thoughts, and feelings. In addition, they show less empathy and understanding of others.

The ruling made by the United States Supreme Court in regard to the regulation of Video Games was made in 2011. That was then, and this is now. It’s time for them to go back and look at the evidence. Their decision has resulted in a tripling of mass shootings in the United States. The court shouldn’t have ok’d unregulated, violent video games.

August 5, 2019August 5, 2019

Mourning A National Tragedy

We’re in shock this morning. Our hearts go out to the victims of the mass shootings in Texas and Ohio, and the lives that have been changed forever. We’re mourning a national tragedy.

This is a national day of mourning — GRIEVING FOR THE VICTIMS OF THIS WEEKEND OF TRAGEDY

Why do these things happen? I don’t remember any mass shootings while raising my children. Some presidential candidates are now politicizing the shootings. But forty years ago we had Democrats and Republicans and Jim Crow Laws and the Vietnam War. Mental illness was widely prevalent, but poorly understood or treated. And there was very little gun control.

This is what we didn’t have: the internet. There were no violent video games so readily available, desensitizing young men to violence. No one had a Facebook account, where people could brag and make other people envious. There was no Instagram or Twitter where you could publicly shame or bully someone to the point of suicide. Now, Instead of face to face relationships and real conversations, everyone just texts. We’ve almost forgotten what it’s like to talk to a real live person.

Technology has changed our world and done wondrous things for our society. But it’s also dehumanized us to the point where violence has become the norm.

July 23, 2018November 10, 2018

THE HUMAN HEART CAN SURVIVE UNSPEAKABLE TRAGEDY

When I saw the first picture of Tia Coleman, the woman who lost nine family members on a duck boat accident in Missouri, my first thought was “how can she survive this terrible loss?” Most of us have experienced at least one or two serious losses, and somehow gone on with our lives. But it’s hard to imagine anything worse than losing your husband and 3 children, plus five other relatives all at once.

Then, I remembered Betty Spencer, who was the sole survivor of the 1977 Valentine’s Day home invasion and murders of her two sons and two stepsons by four men armed with sawed off shotguns . After being shot in the head, she lay still and pretended to be dead. Betty was a patient at the Indiana hospital where I worked. I don’t remember how long she was there, although I’m sure it was several weeks. But I do remember seeing the nurses pushing her up and down the hallways in a wheelchair, day after day. Pale and ghostly, Betty stared straight ahead, with vacant, unseeing eyes, never moving a muscle until they finally returned her to her room. I never saw her stand , walk, eat, talk, or smile. At the time, I thought, “this woman will never survive. She’ll probably have to be put in a nursing home.” She later said that during that time, she was begging God to let her die.

And yet, four years later, she found the strength and courage to found the Parke County Victims’ Advocate Foundation , and became a national speaker on victims’ rights before her death in 2004, “The Hollandsburg Murders taught me that I am not afraid to die,” she wrote in a February 1988 Bereavement magazine article, “But more than that I have learned that I am not afraid to live!”

I have a feeling Tia Coleman will find a way to survive and I wish her Godspeed on the difficult journey ahead.