Return to Basics!

Saturday mornings are my quiet time to sit down and write blog posts about some Geeky apps.  This morning is different.  I felt compelled to express some feelings about yesterdays tragedy.  When my eyes opened this morning I was still thinking about what took place in Connecticut yesterday morning.  Another troubled young man killing 26 people in the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown Connecticut. The victims included teachers, staff and 20 innocent children. This was in addition to the senseless mall shooting that took place in Oregon just a few days prior.

I watched the news most of the day as the details unfolded. At first it appeared most of the kids had made it out alive, then it was announced children had been slaughtered by a lone gunman with no apparent motive. I kept asking myself why, why would someone do this? How evil do you have to be to commit such unspeakable acts on poor defenseless children?  Some will say he was a troubled boy who no one could help. Some will foolishly blame guns for this insane act of violence.  I think there is something bigger happening here, something that goes to the very core of our society.

I am no expert but I can only give you my perspective and insight into why I think this may be happening.  In my short lifetime of 52 years, I have witnessed the decay of our society away from the morals and values that I was raised with and this country was founded on.  Good old Christian values of God, family, respect, caring, hope, love, humility, accountability, righteousness and community.  I was taught these by my two parents, my church and my community.

I was born in 1959 in a small Midwestern town to two loving parents that came from conservative christian backgrounds. I was no different from my friends or neighbors. You may have had a similar childhood. I spent my youth being taught values and principles that have guided my life and most of us in this country. My parents took us to church and taught us religious principles and values. In school it was ok to say a prayer, salute the flag, say the pledge of allegiance and be proud of our country and church. These morals and values are what held our society together. 

My father was the disciplinarian in our home. We learned right from wrong and respect by his example.  I would have never even considered using foul language for the fear of getting a good spanking.  A little fear was healthy and kept me on the straight and narrow path.  Today, we live in a society where parents are afraid to discipline their children for fear of child abuse charges. Today, kids have no fear of consequences for their actions due to this lack of discipline.

Like it or not, we are now reaping the results of what we have sown in our children.  We have to wake up as parents and return to these values or we will continue to see these societal problems get even worse.  Lets put a stop to this destructive path that we are on.  We need to all step up as parents and be responsible for the young lives we have in our hands, lead by example, teach them the morals and values we were taught. 

I gave both of my kids a big hug last night as I do most nights and told them that they are loved.  I can only think of those broken hearted Connecticut families who can't hug their kid tonight.

Mark