TexAngel's blog post

I come here for fun and as a way to get away from the news and the doom and the gloom of the real world. I want to laugh and smile, but earlier this week I popped in and promptly left because really I can’t stand political debates here. It especially irks me from people who do not live in this country. I love and adore my friends here from all over the world. Every single person has a right to their opinion and I will not judge a single person for theirs even if I do not agree because like you, I have a right to mine.

I think what set me off the most the other day was a comment from someone I do consider a friend that stated people in America should be afraid to have children. Really? Violence can happen anywhere! A few months ago a commuter train was bombed in London. Until I heard from a dear friend that commutes into London, I worried myself sick! My child’s safety is a daily concern of mine because she is my child, but one thing I know and that has been shown in every single school shooting here is that her teachers and administrators love her and every single child in her school and would lay down their lives to protect her. I worry about her safety daily, but no more when I drop her off at school than I do when she leaves in a car with a friend. Friends that are all new drivers, because cars kill more people than guns every single day. Should we ban cars? No more than when we board a plane to travel because bombs on planes have become a world wide concern. Aren’t bombs illegal? Aren’t drugs? We could get into a heavy debate about deaths from drug overdoses... it’s staggering! The people that deal these drugs are all murders.

I am Texan. Born and bred and as proud of that as I am to be an American. I grew up in a house full of guns. From a very young age I was taught gun safety and respect for them. My dad never locked his gun safe. We knew not to touch them without his permission because he would have wore out behinds out if we did. My dad has never once in my life spanked me, but I was never going to test him either. I respected him. There is a lack of respect in our country for parents, for authority, for human life. That is where we are failing. That is why awful things like this are happening. Just about every single one of my friends had access to a gun when I was in high school, but we also had parents that disciplined us as much as they loved us.

There are sick people in this world. In every country, in every city and if they want to kill, they will find a way. 80% of violent crimes in Britain and Wales involved no weapon at all. 80%! A bomb going off in a public area will kill more people in a single instant than a semi-automatic gun can. On that note, and yes my dad owns one, I do not think anyone needs a semi-automatic gun unless they are in the military. I do think it should be harder to buy a gun and licensing and gun safety should be more stringent, but most people do not attain guns that kill people in legal ways.

What we need to do is to take an interest in these teens. Don’t expel them from school. What good does that do? Help them. Listen to them. Maybe if someone had taken an interest in what was bothering this child instead of brushing him off as trouble the outcome of this past week’s tragedy would have been different. This country needs to stop being politically divided and come together to love a generation of children who are falling through the cracks. I am a mother of a teenager. My house is full of them most days of the week. I woke up with four of them here this morning. They are not mine, but I love them like they are. They know they are always welcome. They will always have someone who talks to them and takes an interest in them. A place where they are loved and cared about. That is what these kids need. I also hope that I have taught my child and her friends to be kind. If I hear them talking about someone in a negative way I really try to make them think about why this person may act this way and think about what they me be going through. Kindness and consideration go a lot further than judgment.

Sorry for the long rant. Blogs are a place to get things off your chest, right? Back to the fuckery and the fun and remember, no matter what your opinion is, if you are my friend I will love you anyway.