No more excuses, we are failing our children. | Opinion

In Monroe and portions of Pike County, there are approximately 38,000 children enrolled in schools throughout our area districts and we are charged with the responsibility of giving them a solid educational foundation that is heavily financed through the payment of our local school taxes.

On December 22, 2021, the Monroe County chapter of the NAACP, in cooperation with the Monroe County Community Roundtable assembled area Superintendents, school safety officers, school board directors and heads of local law enforcement to discuss ways to keep our children safer following online threats directed at a couple of our schools and the public outcry of parents on social media.

This was an opportunity to speak directly to our leaders in education, find common ground and learn about what measures were already in place to protect our children.

Less than 250 parents and community members viewed that event. A few months later, there was a rise in school fighting and online harassment, and parents again flocked to social media to complain about the ineffectiveness of the school districts to keep their children safe. On May 17th, 2022, we assembled the same group of leaders to address student fights and bullying and provided direct access to those in charge of our children’s education and safety for similar reasons, including public outcry on social media-and less than 300 people have viewed the event.

We are failing our children. We have dropped the ball. It’s time to act as a community and as adults.

Here are some facts to consider:

The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) reports that each day, 12 children die from gun violence and another 32 are shot and injured and an estimated 4.6 million American children live in a home where at least one gun is kept loaded and unlocked. Sandy Hook Promise says ‘These improperly stored weapons have contributed to school shootings, suicides, and the deaths of family members, including infants and toddlers.

The US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) report guns are the leading cause of death among American children and teens. NEJM also reports 1 out of every ten gun deaths are suffered by children aged 19 or younger.

The Naval Postgraduate School’s Center for Homeland Defense and Security reports that firearm deaths occur at a rate more than 5 times higher than drownings. They also report the U.S. has had 2,032 school shootings since 1970 and these numbers are increasing, and 948 school shootings have taken place since the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School in December 2012.

Our U.S. Secret Service reports that almost all mass school shooters shared threatening or concerning messages or images and more than 75% raised concern from others prior to the attacks. Bystanders saw warning signs in most documented active shooter cases. Encourage your children to use the Safe 2 Say system in our area schools to anonymously report strange and concerning behavior by their peers to save their lives and those they care about. The CDC says about 1 out of 5 gay and lesbian youth have been threatened or injured with a weapon on school property and The State of America’s Children report that Black youth are four times more likely to be killed with guns than their white peers.

Education Week reported that school shootings have returned to pre-COVID levels and by some accounts have even increased. However, U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security research shows that if we “know the signs” of gun violence, we can prevent it and reverse the trend. The Washington Post reported, ‘Since the historic attack at Columbine High School in 1999, nearly 300,000 students have been on campus during a school shooting’.

We can change the trajectory of our country and communities if we come together and do something. Will you, please?

Following the tragic and heartbreaking events in Uvalde, it didn’t take long before social media quickly devolved into a sewer of political jousting and finger-pointing, when the truth is we are all to blame. It has become too easy to stand on one side of an issue and fight behind keyboards and web cameras. As adults, some of our behavior is worse than the children’s behavior we vilify. As a community many of us don’t respect teachers or the valuable work they do for our children, we don’t respect one another, we judge people by God-given differences and some of us are deluded to believe that skin color makes one superior to another. As a society, we set negative examples through political debates or our behavior in line at the supermarket.

We cut lines in public places, we cut off cars in traffic, we throw up middle fingers, we shout and demean one another in front of our children for the smallest of disagreements and then are baffled when they emulate our behavior. Many of us allow our children to behave without consequence or boundaries and they feel empowered to disrespect those in authority. I cannot believe some of the things that children feel empowered to say and do to teachers in classrooms, including striking them with their hands or literally cursing them out during class. We take little to no accountability for the things we say and do in front of our children, but then quickly point our fingers at “front platers” or the “others” who don’t look like us, because clearly “they” are the problem. No, we are the problem and it’s time we faced that reality.

We are failing ourselves. This is not about guns. This is not about politics. This is about us.

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We don’t hold ourselves to a standard that encourages our children to see others as people who are walking similar walks in life and deserve consideration and empathy. We must recognize that we are the future we want to see, and we set the tone that our children will follow.

Most importantly, we must take a serious look at the people who hold elected offices and stop allowing them to do nothing for us or our children. These elected positions are not personality or beauty contests, these folks have a duty and a responsibility to make our lives safer and of higher quality. Take an honest look at them and let’s ask ourselves: What have they really done for our community since taking office? Have they fought for our families to improve our lives, or are they doing the work of and for someone else? Are they fighting for a higher minimum wage? Are they introducing legislation that benefits the working people and small business owners? Are they speaking out against racial and social injustices and setting a real example of leadership in our communities? Can they prove that their time in office has not been as a placeholder for their own political party? Can they list solid accomplishments that have improved our lives that didn’t simply involve giving our tax money back to us?

Demand receipts from your State Representatives and State Senators of their prior advocacy for your family and demand they do more to protect and preserve our communities. Expect more from those in public office and engage them and other leaders in our community.

No more excuses. No more finger-pointing. No more political drama and “winning” social media arguments in comment sections while we are still all losing as a body of people. This time let’s get it right and start meeting and talking to one another to find solutions for our children to keep them safe in our schools. Whether we have children or not or if our children still attend school or not, every child in Monroe County and Pike County are our children. We have a duty to protect them and an obligation to set the right example for them as a community.

During the December school safety event, Monroe County NAACP suggested area schools consider installing a device called “NIGHTLOCK”, which are door barriers that can be installed in classrooms by the maintenance departments during the summer break for less than fifty dollars per door. Oxford School District in Michigan installed the devices and believes it prevented more victims during the active shooting incident last November. Other states like Tennessee and even some public and private school districts in southwestern Pennsylvania use similar door stops to help save our children’s lives. Please contact your school board and ask that they consider this and any other measure that will ultimately save the lives of those learning and working in our schools. These are our schools. This is our community.

Heartbreak and tragedy are continually knocking at America’s door.

As parents and as members of this community, we must be better to one another and stop acting like the children we care for.

We must prioritize innocent children in our care and do what’s right-not what’s best for us in the moment. Let’s stop playing and falling for those political games when we always end up losing as a collective.

We are better than this. Let’s prove it. Let’s show up for the children and for ourselves.

Christa Caceres is president of the Monroe County chapter of the NAACP.

This article originally appeared on Pocono Record: Christa Caceres: Now is the time to protect our kids