I'm teleporting back in my life - let's say about 35 years. I'm on the street where I live in a Long Island suburb. There are about 15 of us - kids of all ages. What do we have in common? We all have guns!
Plastic pistols and machine guns that go clack-clack-clack. Many forced us to yell "BANG!" or (insert your favorite childhood fake gun sound here). Some were made of conveniently shaped sticks when there were more kids than guns. We'd hide in bushes waiting for the "bad guys" to come. Shouts of "I got you!" and "No way - you totally missed me!" could be heard for hours.
Those were some great afternoons.
For thousands of years, societies have looked proudly to the stories of their war heroes. Those heroes were revered for their selfless sacrifice, courage, valour, fortitude and bravery. Even today, our government runs commercials daily that show young people and children how "great" a life in the military is. The commercials range from the Seal team creeping out of the water in the dark of night, leaving no trace of footsteps after the next wave hits the shore or giving humanitarian aid to some village in need. It makes quite an impression on a young child. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were cool, but this? This is real!
It is no wonder that a young boy has a fascination with "army stuff". Guns, soldiers, cool uniforms, attack vehicles - the list goes on and on. Factor in the most popular video game titles? Halo, Call of Duty, World of Warcraft (10 million paid subscribers paying $180 each year). You might say there's a little interest here.
Now let's focus a bit on the current day. When I say current day, let's say post-Columbine - that horrible day of April 20, 1999. Two students at Columbine High School went on a rampage, killing 12, wounding 23, then commiting suicide - all with guns. To say it changed a nation is an understatement. After an event like that, inquisitions begin. Naturally, those close looks eventually become blame-fests. What the school admistrators did wrong. What the police did wrong. What parents and students did wrong. How did we ignore the signs?
Self-examination is important after such an event. History repeats itself and we should learn from our mistakes. There are other factors here as well: preventative lawyering and risk reduction. We live in a litigious society. We are threatened every day by lawsuits that are sometimes valid and sometimes frivilous and parasitic. In reaction to these threats, schools have taken a "zero-tolerance" approach to anything having to do with guns in a school environment.
When a young boy draws a catalog of his imagined army, this is deemed as inappropriate in today's zero-tolerance schools. Inappropriate and in need of punishment. "Off to the school psychologist! We're very concerned" Very concerned??
Let's put this in perspective. A child draws pictures of the thing that has been programmed into a society for generations. Due to a school district's fears of a lawsuit down the road, the child is sacrificed. This places very conflicting standards on the child. Returning war veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan = Good; Drawing a picture of them = Bad. What are we teaching our kids? This is a very black and white solution to a world with many shades of gray. How many systems and infrastructures must we destroy with knee-jerk, reactionary policies?
Was the picture "inappropriate" or was it "inconvenient" to the schools risk-reduction program, instituted by a lawyer who has no interest in the right of expression of a child?
By the way - last I checked, none of my childhood freinds had gone on a gun-toting rampage in their later years.
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