Today I was thinking and feeling bad that so many 6 and 7 yr olds got killed in the shooting. However, at the same time, I was feeling a bit disturbed and upset that many 6 and 7 yr old kids, and even 4 and 5 yr old kids like to talk about how they want to kill people they don’t like. Not only do they say such things, but they see nothing wrong with saying these statements, and even think it’s funny. Several weeks ago two 5 yr olds on my block were telling me that they are going to get their Abba to come with his big saw and chop me up.
Another example was when I was working as a pre-k teacher, there were some children who were constantly talking about killing other people. There was even one child who said more than once that he wants to kill the whole class besides his one good friend.
How does that sound? Is that nice for such young children to talk like that? Where does this insensitivity for a human life (especially to talk like that to an adult)come from? Why are the parents not teaching their young children basic caring and sensitivity for one another, and teaching them them that every person is special and valuable? Perhaps if the parents are not teaching these basic values, maybe our preschool and early elementary teachers should reinforce these concepts in their lesson plans.