"It's really a wonder that I haven't dropped all my ideals, because they seem so absurd and impossible to carry out. Yet I keep them, because in spite of everything I still believe that people are really good at heart." -Anne Frank
I am struggling, as I’m sure we all are, to come to terms with what happened at Sandy Hook Elementary School. The senseless death of children, the blink-of-an-eye loss of innocence in the lives of the young survivors, and the endless rhetoric by cable news anchors trying to “explain” or find a “reason” for this horrendous event is just too much to take in.
It’s just too much.
I remember being in the first grade. I remember feeling like anything was possible. It is when you begin to understand friendship for the first time, it is when books become a source of magic and adventure in your life, when you have little more to worry about than trying to color in the lines or deciding who your best friend is (usually whoever had the best snacks to share.)
The world feels huge and overwhelming to a six year-old, but the classroom is probably the first place you start to make sense of it all. Nothing about Friday’s events make sense. The fact that the safest place in the world of children was so quickly turned into the most horrific is beyond comprehension.
It infuriates me that this will be logged in history as another “school shooting.” “School shootings” shouldn’t be a thing. The two words should never be paired. They are polar opposites, these two things. The word school inspires us to think of beginnings, hopeful futures and communal progress. While shooting generally means an ending of sorts, be it of life or freedom or precious innocence.
It has to stop.
As many of you know, I am traveling to Kenya and Mt. Kilimanjaro in two weeks to help support a children’s home and leadership academy called Flying Kites. The past few days has put the importance of this trip into clear perspective. I realize now that we, as adults and as members of the human family, have this great responsibility: to take care of the kids. I get it now. I didn’t really before, I’ll admit. I don’t have kids of my own, but there is a world filled with kids who need to feel the safety of a classroom and the warmth of a family. Kids who shouldn’t have to worry about AIDS or suicide bombs, human trafficking or getting shot to death in their school.
Can we stop these things from happening? Maybe. Maybe we can. Maybe if we help kids feel empowered and loved, maybe if we stop blaming and start trying, really trying, to make sure kids everywhere get their fair share of childhood and all the magic it holds. Maybe we can get to a place where “school shootings” are no longer a thing. A place where all kids have to worry about is all the wonder of the world, and finding their special place within it. I want to thank all of you that have contributed to my effort so far. It is overwhelming to have you all on the side of these incredible kids and me. Thank you.
There is this South African word, UBUNTU, which essentially translates to “I am because we are.” It means none of us can fully exist without each other. We must believe this, we must live it, and we must start now.http://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/ashleybishop/kilimanjaronewyearstrek
