—
About the only thing that is clear in the days following the massacre of 20 children and six adults in Newtown, Conn., is that there are no answers.
Yes, the violent shooting deaths of 6- and 7-year-olds should give this nation pause to consider aspects regarding the types of guns and ammunition we sell and our response to mental health issues.
But certainly no one believes that government in itself can provide a law that will fix evil. Law enforcement can’t make everyone safe. Nor can our school systems guarantee the absolute safety of our children.
Yet we all know that we can do better.
We would suggest our readers — many of whom are heartbroken after the senseless tragedy — would be best served today and in the coming days of funerals and memorials if they would simply gather those they love close to them.
Talk with your children. If you need help doing that, seek out the advice of the clergy, a school counselor or a family counselor. Reach out. No one can possibly know the “right” thing to do. We have no road maps on how to handle horror. But as parents, we can decide how much information we think our children should have. We can be that filter.
Sometimes the simplest act of kindness helps the healing begin. You and your children might feel better by signing a card that is being sent to Newtown on behalf of the entire town of Joplin. The giant card will be available for signing in the lobby of City Hall through 4 p.m. Thursday.
It’s a good way to help your child learn about grief.
There is no good way, though, for any of us to understand what happened Friday at Sandy Hook Elementary School.
Opinion
Related Photos
Discussion
Our View: Seeking answers
- Opinion
-
-
Other Views: Conflicts in SEC
Money talks. In the continuing dispute over the all-too-cozy relationship between the people who create and sell financial products and the people who rate their risk, the money says: Shut up and let us do what we want.
-
Phill Brooks, columnist: Missouri Senate did what Founding Fathers had in mind
George Washington once described the Senate as being like a saucer in which you pour coffee or tea.
-
Our View: Fixing failure
Some 1,200 injured workers will finally get the payments they are owed. In its final week in session, Missouri’s General Assembly, through bipartisan efforts, passed a solution to address the insolvency of the state’s Second Injury Fund.
-
Herb B. Kuhn, guest columnist: Delaying Medicaid reform could hurt rural Missouri
The Missouri Legislature missed a rare opportunity in the just-ended session to transform Medicaid and make a real difference in the lives and health of hundreds of thousands of our neighbors. Rural Missouri has the most to lose from the legislature’s failure to act.
-
Kevin Wilson, guest columnist: When fear wins out, so do the terrorists
I’m going to make a bold statement that’s sure to draw a lot of comments, but hear me out before reaching for the keyboard to type a rebuttal.
-
Sandie Morgan, guest columnist: Unions benefit workers more than they may know
In a recent guest column (Globe, May 14), Elliott Denniston made the case for Missouri not to become a right-to-work state, and he made this case very well.
-
Marta Mossburg, columnist: Maybe government is tyrannical after all
Less than two weeks ago President Obama stood in front of graduates from The Ohio State University and told them to reject those who warn of government tyranny.
-
Our View: Spying on us
Distrust of government secrecy has been elevated to an exceptional level with the disclosure the Justice Department covertly examined two months of Associated Press phone records to determine who leaked details to the AP about a foiled terrorist plot.
-
Our View: Pass on the legacy
Forty hungry members of the 1st Kansas Colored Volunteer Infantry began gathering corn at the Rader farm near the village of Sherwood when they were ambushed by a guerrilla band of about 70 Southern sympathizers.
-
Our View: Big Brother looms large
The federal government, working under the cloak of secrecy, has been having a heyday at the expense of all Americans.
- More Opinion Headlines
-
Commuters Face Delays After Conn. Train Accident
Raw: Swarm of Tornadoes Slams Plains
Raw: Fierce Bombing in Qusair, Syria
RAW: TV Staff Take Cover From Tornado
Raw: Accused US Spy Reportedly Leaves Russia
AP CEO: Records Seizure 'Unconstitutional'
Fatal Hot Air Balloon Accident in Turkey
Tornadoes, Storms Strike Midwest
'Babyland': Camp Lejeune's Toxic Legacy?
Raw: Heavy Tornado Damage in Shawnee, Okla
NTSB Begins Investigation Into Conn. Train Crash
Could Tobacco Be the Next Biofuel?
