A Nation of Fools

Where do I start with this one?

I'll start by apologizing up front for what promises to be a long, possibly rambling post.  I’ve started to write a blog several times, and now they are being rolled all into one.  So sit back and get comfortable…unless this offends you in some way.

And to add a disclaimer, my intention is never to offend anyone.  However, if you are offended by my blog, I trust you will either forgive me, get over it, or both.

Listening to the radio this morning, I heard that Maryland has now said you can no longer hug in any of its schools.  Okay, you can hug…but only your own kid.  So if I take my son to class, I can give him a hug, but not his friend, who has grown up next to me his entire life.  He and my son are best friends, and frequently play at each other’s house.  My son’s friend’s parents are our best friends, and we are really more like one big family.  Too bad.  I’m not allowed to hug him. 

“It will help cut down on potential safety issues for the children.”

Years ago, I helped out in AWANA.  I can’t tell you the number of children I hugged over the years.  Never once did I consider it uncomfortable in any way.  These were simply children, coming into a safe environment, and being loved by adults who volunteered their time.  Good thing I wasn’t in Maryland. 

Only parents registered as volunteers can enter the school playground.  Okay, I’ll give them that one.  I can see where that is a good idea.  But if you are a volunteer, you cannot push any child on the swing unless they are your child.  Really?

Your child cannot hand out party invitations in class.  I mean, after all, if there are twelve children in the class, and only three get invited, someone might get their feelings hurt.  It just isn’t fair.  I remember being in school, and someone would hand out invitations, and I didn’t get one.  Did it hurt my feelings?  Maybe.  I can’t remember.  So, even if it did, obviously it didn’t scar me for life. 

You can send a cupcake with your child to school, but you can’t send any for his classmates.  Someone might be allergic to something in the cupcake.  So let’s go back to the issue of fairness.  Why can Johnny have a homemade cupcake, and I can’t?  If I’m capable (at whatever age we choose to discuss) to rationalize that Johnny can have a cupcake because his mother made them for him, and not for everyone; surely I’m capable of understanding that Jenny is having a birthday party, and I wasn’t invited.

A child was suspended for pointing his finger at another child and saying “Bang.”

I understand the brevity of the Sandy Hook shootings, among others.  And I know it is a sensitive topic.  Here is where I remind you that I’m not intending to offend anyone.  But if you choose to take a stand on any issue, you are going to offend someone. 

When I was in first grade, I took a cap gun to school with me to play with during recess.  Do you remember when kids had toy guns that didn’t have to be painted bright colors so everyone knew they weren’t real?  Mine looked (mostly anyway) like a real gun.  I can’t tell you how many times I played Cowboys and Indians (there I go offending again), or cops and robbers.  Is that offensive?  Are robbers going to tell me I’m not sensitive enough? 

My point?  I grew up playing with guns.  And not one time in my entire life did I ever want to actually hurt anyone.  So you suspend a child for pointing his finger at another like it was a gun.  Little boys (mainly, so I don’t offend anyone yet again) have been playing with guns, or sticks shaped like a gun, or their fingers in the shape of a gun since guns have been around.  Suspending a child for pointing his finger at another is ridiculous. 

Another child was suspended because he chewed a Pop-Tart into the shape of a gun. 

I can almost understand that.  I’ve been injured by Pop-Tarts on more than one occasion.  Ever take a bite of one immediately after removing it from the toaster?  I’m being silly, but no more so than those making these arguments.

“If we had tougher gun laws, we would be safer.”

This is a flawed argument.  It is already against the law to kill an innocent person with a gun.  So the people who walk into a restaurant or school and start killing people are already breaking the law.  If they didn’t care about the laws that are currently on the books, what makes anyone think they will care about any new laws? 

“If we ban guns, we would be safer.”

If we are going to argue that the world is safer with tougher gun laws, we don’t need to look any further than Chicago and Washington D.C.  They have the toughest gun laws in the nation, and the highest murder rates. 

Want gun free zones, so our children will be safer?  Schools ARE gun-free zones.

Virginia Tech

Arkansas State

Louisiana Tech

Sandy Hook


“But we need to do more to make sure we are safe.”

As long as there are bad people in the world, they will continue to do bad things.  And if I’m the type of person who is going to hurt someone, I don’t need a gun to do it

In the US in 2010, an estimated 10,228 people were killed in drunk-driving crashes.  Approximately 8,000 people were murdered with a gun.  So cars are much more dangerous than guns.  Should we outlaw cars because a drunk driver killed a child? 

Or should we suspend a child because he is pretending to drive?