Yesterday, some of my colleagues openly expressed their fear about the safety of their children at school. It was based on just one truth. Looking at them, I could read their minds. They were so afraid. The youngest among them, said she was thinking about sending her son, her only child to school in Guadeloupe where she was born.
For her, she added that she would feel at peace if he is over there since it seems that the school shooting happens mainly in the US and Europe.
I asked her how she will bear it if her son goes farther from her. She quickly replied that she knew she will miss him but she will not have to undergo any heart- attack for constant fear that any evil might happen to him.
When I left them, I could not ignore my own fear as well. I thought of my son. At that moment, the ultimate thought of being afraid like my colleagues rushed into my head.
Our fear centered on just one reoccurring incident. It has been happening for so many years. Each time such incident came unto the media, everybody grieves, families of these victims mourned the untimely deaths of their loved ones.
However, the question is; what has been done to prevent this atrocity from reoccurring?
The conversation among my colleagues was fueled by the breaking news in Finland about another student shooting on the students and killing 9 of them before he shoot himself in the head. He died later in a government hospital.
I asked myself; why did he do it? Later I went on to read further about this perpetrator. What I discovered about him was alarming. Then it occurred to me that one might be living under the same roof even with an enemy without being aware.
I realized it is high time we started to act before it is too late.
What can we call the barbaric killing going on in the school? Each perpetrator has his reasons why he did the shooting. Nevertheless, a killer never thought of mercy at his point of action. As parent, guardian and friends of the family, we must make it our duty to protect our young ones.
There will be no generation if these lunatics continue to wipe off those children who are supposed to create that future.
Let us think of the security measures that are require to escape our children from being victims of unwanted death.
Highlighted below are the strict measures
1) WATCH OVER YOUR CHILDREN SHOULDERS
A usual adage says, you show me your friends and I will tell you who you are. You have to know the friends your children move with. Do not prevent their friends from visiting your home. I want you to know that it is safe when you know your children’s friends than when you have no idea at all who they are.
Study these friends; are they suitable to move with your children? Are there any Godly characters imbedded in them? How do they speak; the usage of words? Do they look decent? I mean not dirty, not street-wise, etc?
2) SPEAK TO YOUR CHILDREN
You will never know what goes on in the mind of a child when you do not give him the chance to express himself. Do not be rigid when you have to punish a child for his wrongdoing. The more you are tightened up, the farther the child will be from you even if he is right there beside you. Find soft and gentle ways to let your children open their minds to you. Ask them about their school, their activities when you are not with them, their feelings, their emotions, and also, let them pour out their inner emotions to you. Be soft, be calm, and be willing to provide that safe haven in you to them. Let them see that they can always run to you whenever they have something that disturbs them. Please do not be so hardened that you will end up regretting in the future. Your children need you to understand that they are humans with passions and feelings just like you.
3) AVOID EXCESSIVE VISUAL MEDIA
If possible, I will advise that you banish watching TV in your house. I will remind you that in one of my previous newsletter, I mentioned that I had to do away with TV in my house. It is of no use to any member of my family. This may not be your case however; you have to be on your guard. It is saddened these days that TV no longer serves as media for information and education. Today, the television we used to praise back then has now been turned into useless avenues for promoting corruption and immorality.
4) APPLY WISDOM
Let wisdom guide your steps while parenting your children. You need nothing more than sound mind and the ability to create a happy home. Be on the watch for any sign of abnormality in your children. When you any of your children starts acting with so much sensitivity, you have to check that child out! And you must do it with speed. Get that child to see a psychiatrist. The parents of a child-killer stated they noticed their son’s irritated behaviour even as far as he was a child! If they had gone deep to halt this, I bet their son would not have committed the murder.
5) CREATE PRECIOUS MOMENTS
It is so amazing to discover how parents are so busy they hardly create the time for their wards. Do not think it is enough when you drop them off at school and you speed off to work. I heard my neighbours’ children often complain their parents are too busy to have time for them. You may be busy making money, and acquiring all that you want. You must pause and ask yourself; who am I working for? You work 24 hours, 7 days a week all for these children yet you are hardly there at those moments when they truly need your attention. Divide your time. You will be grateful for every sacrifice you make for your children. The teachers and the school representatives cannot take over your vital role at their parent.
6) AVOID MONSTROUS GAMES AND TOYS
Asia succeeded in producing video games for the world. The boom that these gadgets created from onset generated lots and lots of profits for the toy manufacturers. Today, these companies earn millions of income unfortunately majority of children earn nothing but gradual doom. Have you noticed how the educational system is fast dwindling? Most children are dropouts for no tangible reasons. Nowadays, these young ones spend their whole days in games stores. Any game store owner that attempts to drive these children will only end up losing money. Instead, he will definitely do whatever it takes to keep them patronizing him. Sometimes back, I visited a family at their abode. The only child of the family is barely an eight-year-old. I met him already engaged with Play Station. From the time I entered until the hour I left, he was glued to the TV. On my way home, I felt upset about what I saw. To his parents, they believed the game helped to keep their son busy. Those two hours would have been used to study. Keep your children busy doing valuable hobbies, learning new skills and getting involved in training to enhance their education. Avoid spending your income to purchase unnecessary games.
Take a deep look at these lists below, you will realise that what your children need is proper education not foolishness.
The lists are becoming endless;
1st August 1966 – A day after killing his wife and mother, Sniper Charles Whitman kills 14 people and injures dozens at University of Texas.
16th October 1991 – 35 year old George Jo Hennard killed 23 people and himself in a cafeteria.
13th March 1996 – A suspected Paedophile, Thomas Hamilton opened fire at random in Dunblane Primary School, in Scotland where he killed 16 children and their teacher before in killed himself.
20th April 1999 – Two teenagers, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold at Columbine High School, Colorado, kill 13 before killing themselves.
26th April 2002 – A 19- year-old expelled student, Robert Steinhauser shot and killed 16 people before he committed suicide at the Johann Gutenberg Gymnasium, Erfurt, Germany.
21st March 2005 – A teenager on an Indian reservation in Red Lake, Minnesota, kills nine.
11th November 2007 – 18-year-old student Pekka-Eric Auvinen shot himself to death after he killed 8 people in a school attack on Tuusula, Finland.
16th April 2007 – A young student, Seung-Hui Cho, opened fire on the Virginia Tech killing 33 students, then himself.
14th February 2008 – A dropout graduate student entered into a lecture hall on the campus of Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, and killed 5 students before he self-inflicted himself.
23rd September 2008 – Ten people were killed when a gunman, Matti Juhani Saari, rampaged through a Finnish adult college, Kauhajoki, Finland.
Who knows what will happen next and to whom? Take cautious; be on your guide and watch.
7) GO ON YOUR KNEEL
Above all, pray for your children, each of them. You are not with them 24 hours. You do that above and allow God to protect them. As I have learnt to do, put away your fear in knowing that the protection of the Lord is upon them.
Cheers!
Princess Ayelotan
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