It's up to us.
Teenagers understand there is so much we can do to reduce the violence they track in their schools and communities, if we have the will.
Dear friends: Yesterday, we shared pizza with two teenagers in our family. Between catching up on gossip, pop culture, and the upcoming end of the school year, they recited the statistics of school and mass shootings this year.
Ugh. Why should teenagers need to track this level of violence? It seems deeply unfair, and sad. They also shared their own common-sense ideas of how to impact this terrible trend: banning military-style weapons or raising the age of legal ownership to twenty-one (we restrict alcohol use to that age, after all); and addressing the mental health issues that contribute to actions of aggression and despair.
These two teenagers understand there is no single solution, but there is so much we can do, if we have the will. While adult leaders in state houses and senate chambers refuse to act, in thrall to money from arms and ammunition manufacturers through political action groups and to support from far-right violence advocates, the kids who suffer the consequences know we are not powerless.
They know it is all connected: violence, despair, mental illness, poverty, homelessness, war, racism, homophobia, misogyny - all stem from the root of dehumanization. And they know that humanizing everyone, including the folks they disagree with, is essential to our survival.
So, fellow adults, do we leave these teenagers to wonder why we are so passive, cynical, entrenched in our positions? Or do we join them in their project of humanizing and including everyone?
It’s really up to us.
Be safe and well.