Imagine that one morning thousands of students “spontaneously” leave their classes and congregate in a central area of the city. (It was probably organized and orchestrated by an outside interest, but for now let’s ignore that.) The teenagers begin, again, spontaneously, to chant a phrase.
“Stop killing our brothers and sisters! Protect our rights. Choose life. Ban abortion!”
How many minutes of network news would that demonstration receive? How many inches of newsprint and how many front page, above the fold, photos would be printed by the major newspapers all across the country?
Are the protests of “our children” based on strongly held juvenile beliefs or are they fueled by special interest groups working for a specific agenda? Consider an alternative. How many teens are killed every year in auto accidents? Or even more germane to the national discussion, how many teens are killed in alcohol-related auto accidents?
Kids are in cars more often, though for fewer hours, than they are in school. And the death toll is staggering. Incidentally the numbers can be found at:
http://www.iihs.org/iihs/topics/t/teenagers/fatalityfacts/teenagers
Summarizing, they tally 2820 in 2016 and 12% were alcohol related (338). And these numbers are for 16-19 year old drivers. More can be added for passengers in autos driven by older drivers.
Over 55% of teen related auto deaths were to passengers. And right at half of teen deaths occurred to anyone in the car without a seat belt employed.
Yes, protest school shootings, but focus on some solutions other than banning all guns. I would bet that every school shooter was known by someone in his school as displaying suspicious tendencies. Why do we read of social media postings after the fact? Did not one see the threatening posts? Why did they not respond or alert authorities?
And for our teen auto statistics, try a few preventative measures. Don’t get into any vehicle if the driver is “buzzed.” Second, always fasten the seat belt. And finally, only ride with a teen on a specific mission, such as going to school, an activity, church, etc. Just “cruisin” is looking for a “bruisin.”
Protests should focus on the solution of an issue and not just to raise “awareness,” which, frankly, usually means to promote someone’s agenda. Did the “anthem kneelers” advocate or promote any concrete solutions? (There, I should have insulted just about everyone.)
“Marching for life,” is a noble sentiment, but without concrete and executable solutions, it is a futile activity. Let’s not just promote agendas, let’s produce results.
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