Hear Me! Do I Matter? Are You Listening?! Do You Care What I Think?!
Kids are crying out with anger, fear, disappointment, and confusion these days. I can’t imagine the fear of having to go to school, not knowing if you will come home at night. Looking over your shoulder in the lunchroom, listening to every sound, etc. I REALLY can’t imagine being a parent and living the same thing parents are living today?!
Our kids are grown and gone, but if I let myself imagine, just for a moment….YIKES! Teens are seeing their friends and fellow students being shot down as they have to run away from a madman with a gun, the weapon of choice right now. Yes, there are bomb, knives, bats, etc,, but for some reason, kids and young adults are able to get their hands on an automatic rifle of varying kinds. How is that possible and how do we stop it?!
Please keep your political views on the back burner while you read this blog because the issue is what our American kids are living at a rising pace. Our politicians can continue to argue all day ad protect their partisan views, but let’s stop and look at our kids and the lives that are being taken.
“HEAR MY VOICE!”, our students are saying. Many of them live a home life of chaos and crisis every day, and going to school used to be a haven for many of them. Many students live in an environment of cyber or school bullying and this is just another layer of drama for them to try and endure.
Is it any wonder that the suicide rate has been steadily been increasing with our youth. Families are shattered because these kids had no hope that life would get any better.
Well, they are tired of it and they are standing up with their voices, signs, and frustration. They walk out of school, take to the streets, walk inside government buildings and are trying to make a difference by demanding the grownups who have let them down, do something about this before another school is in lockdown or worse.
We need to listen to their voices and hear what they have to say, so we can absorb the pain they feel. Yes, we have more wisdom (usually), as adults, and we also know how complicated things are in Washington,DC. It takes FOREVER to get laws changed, but these kids can’t wait any longer for more of their friends and family members die.
So, what can we do, as ordinary citizens? Here are a few steps:
- Take the time to sit and listen to a teen, or a small group of teens, where they can share their fears and anger and ask questions. Speak FAR less and listen FAR more. “The more we listen, the more we will learn.”
- Don’t bring your political views or personal biases into it. They don’t care, at this point. They just want it to stop! Only give advice when asked for it. Help THEM work it out in their own minds.
- Ask them what solutions they think would work and how they can get involved in a truly effective and positive way. Maybe give them suggestions and give them resources. Help them become part of the solution and not just protest.
- Don’t forget to end the conversation with each of you praying so you are unified.
“Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity.” I Timothy 4:12
Let’s not look down on the youth in our lives, but guide and build them up in God’s principles.
Our American kids are devastated and angry over all these school shootings. Instead of putting them down, or just ignoring them, let’s encourage and help guide our teens to be good, strong leaders in our country; one nation under God.