BY WENDY CZAKO-MAH
In our wonderful world full of knowledge and technology, why are so many of our youth dying needlessly? The type of deaths that happened in the Toronto area last month used to be something we thought only happened south of the border. Now, it’s here and on the rise. In under a month, three teenagers died as a result of being shot by other teens.
My first question is, where are they getting these guns and, secondly, why is it OK to settle our differences with guns? Why can’t people just talk trash and walk away like they used to? I’m not saying that’s OK, but it doesn’t leave a family missing a son or brother all because someone didn’t like the way someone looked at him. The truth is, if you were to ask adults who bullied someone in high school if they could change what they had done, the majority would say they wish they hadn’t done it and that it was mean or wrong.
We all have watched the news and seen young boys fighting wars around the world and have been horrified that children are carrying guns. We know guns kill. But, after the Sandy Hook massacre
on Dec. 14, 2012, where 20-year-old Adam Lanza shot and killed 20 children and six adults in the United States and talk of a gun ban, what happened? Gun sales went through the roof as people feared they soon wouldn’t be able to buy them. Instead of people talking about getting guns off the street, they lined up to buy more. What is wrong with people?
I’m the type of person who always sees the brighter side of life. When my daughter tells me about a situation, she says I always side or defend the other person. The truth is I’d rather give “them” the benefit of the doubt that their intentions were good. When they look at other people, I don’t see them giving dirty looks. Rather, they’re squinting because they don’t have their glasses on or their thought was they wished they looked good in that outfit. It’s all about a person’s own insecurities.
Have you ever heard someone say, “Before I knew you I thought you were a bitch? But actually you’re really nice.”
I used to get in trouble all the time because of the apparent look I gave someone and in reality it was just me looking. My grandmother once told me I gave her a look that could kill. These days it’s referred to as “knife eye.” The truth was I had been listening to her very intently and she had been speaking German which I was in the process of learning. I felt terrible, but that is just how simple things can be misunderstood.
It used to be girls didn’t physically fight. But now they get down on the ground and punch each other out. I’d hate to think of what would happen if they had guns in their purses.
Boys, on the other hand, used to have fist fights. But now they pull out a gun and settle the score.
We need to get guns off the streets and we need to get kids back to being kids. We don’t want to end up like the United States.
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