OCR Text |
Show Volume XX Issue XX The Ogden Valley news Page 3 February 1, 2013 Guest Commentaries “Violence” Not the Real Target of War on Guns: Build a Culture of Peace by Changing Masking all-out assault on individual liberty is the Purpose of Education “You never want a serious crisis to go to waste,” Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel once said. “It’s an opportunity to do things that you could not do before.” This, in a nutshell, represents government’s response to last month’s school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut. Not three days after the tragedy, U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein unveiled legislation banning the sale, transfer, importation, or manufacture of any weapon capable of holding more than ten rounds. Meanwhile, U.S. Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. said the Obama administration was committed to using “executive orders” and “executive action” to erode our Second Amendment rights—no matter what Congress (or, for that matter, the Constitution) has to say about it. This debate has nothing to do with stopping gun violence, though. Instead, it’s about the political class in Washington chipping away at our ability to protect our families and preserve our property. Make no mistake, these proposed restrictions will do nothing to prevent future school shootings—or any other kind of shootings—but they will go a long way toward disarming law-abiding citizens. That will lead to more, not less violence. If Washington were serious about addressing firearm homicides, its leaders would start by acknowledging that America doesn’t have a gun problem, it has a gang problem. Yet instead of declaring war on the hoodlums who have turned our inner cities into third world countries, government has chosen instead to target the suburban firearm owners fleeing these urban terror zones. Who can forget 2008 when then-candidate Obama infamously referred to these Americans as “bitter,” accusing them of “cling(ing) to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren’t like them?” Here’s a news flash for Mr. Obama: It’s not the “bitter” people doing the killing, it’s violent criminals residing in cities like his and Rahm Emanuel’s hometown of Chicago, which is the murder capital of America, despite having some of the nation’s strictest anti-gun laws. Of course, whenever lone nuts perpetrate random acts of suburban madness, the mainstream media obsessively psychoanalyze them, devot- ing endless hours of coverage to their rampages. Isolated incidents weeks or months apart become “epidemics” of violence. The goal, of course, is for us to eventually accept these rampages as part of a “new normal.” This “progressive,” politically correct view of gun violence doesn’t square with reality, though. To start with, one out of every three American homicides does not involve a firearm. Also, more than half of all gun deaths in America are suicides. Of those homicides involving firearms, the vast majority occur in inner cities, where gang activity is rampant. In 2011 there were 1.4 million gang members (and 33,000 gangs) active in the United States, according to the FBI. Depending on the jurisdiction, the FBI says these gangs perpetrate between 48 percent and 90 percent of all violent crimes in our country. Do these gangs care about gun laws? Of course they don’t. In fact, the FBI report detailed how gang members obtain high-powered weapons via illegal sales and by targeting “military and law enforcement officials, facilities, and vehicles.” In other words, tougher gun laws won’t stop gangs—but they will erode the ability of law-abiding citizens to protect themselves. The best way to reduce firearm homicides is to arm the populace. According to a 2011 Gallup poll, gun ownership in America stood at 47 percent—its highest level in nearly two decades. Not coincidentally, the FBI’s 2011 data revealed violent crime in America was down for the fifth consecutive year, hovering near record lows. So if reducing gun violence isn’t the objective of anti-Second Amendment legislation (and judging by the data, it couldn’t be), what is the goal? It is to suppress the potential for popular resistance, naturally. After all, if you think government is out of control now, just wait and see what happens when we’ve been stripped of the protections in the Bill of Rights. Bill Wilson is the president of Americans for Limited Government. Read more at www. washingtontimes.com Weber Pathways Sponsors Buy-A-Foot Trails Promotion Weber Pathways, in be selected by GEAR:30 on February 10. partnership with GEAR:30, which produces premier outdoor equipment, is holding a promotion to help fund new trail projects in Weber County. The aim of this campaign is to motivate our friends, and, in turn, their friends, to sponsor sections of trails for $5 per foot. For each foot sponsored, a chance to win one of two amazing packages of outdoor gear is offered. One package tailored especially for men and one especially for women. The prize packages consist of gear and adventures that have been donated by premier outdoor companies like Salomon, Suunto, Snowbasin Ski Resort, ScottUSA, REI, Petzel, Smith, Kylmit and, of course, our partners at GEAR:30. Winners will This campaign will rely mostly on word of mouth recommendations from one friend to another for its success. Do yourself and your friends a favor with a chance to win a pile of great stuff and help to create more new trails here in Weber County. Please tell everyone you know. It’s easy to get your sponsorship going, visit www.donate2trails.com and sign up to build trails and maybe get great stuff! Campaign and Drawing Terms & Conditions - The Buy-A-Foot campaign is to support Weber Pathways, a non-profit organization, in its effort to continue to provide nonmotorized public trails and pathways throughout PATHWAYS cont. on page 8 By Lynn Stoddard The slaughter of 20 precious little children and 6 adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut is horrible evidence that we live in a culture of violence in our country. Other recent murders in Seattle, Colorado, Virginia and 29 violent deaths in Utah during 2012 all attest to how widespread violence is. Unfortunately, there are other examples of violence that are accepted and even rewarded in our society. Why do so many people enjoy watching people hurt one another in the “sports” of boxing and pro wrestling? Or even hockey or football? When two people get in a fight at school, why does a circle of students quickly gather around to watch? If people didn’t like to watch human beings hurt one another, would there be a market for it on television or in other public venues? What would our country be like if every child grew up aspiring to be a peaceful contributor, rather than a burden, to society? I work with a group of veteran teachers and parents who are developing a new system of education, “Educating for Human Greatness,” that is based on this major purpose: Help each student find and develop his or her reason for existing to be a special contributor to society. Educating for Human Greatness, EfHG, calls for us to abandon the factory, assembly line model for student uniformity and start to help each child develop as an individual—help every child excel in something. If we continue down the path of standardizing students in a narrow, limited curriculum, the bullying, suicides, and violence in our country will continue to increase. Educating for Human Greatness does not teach subjects of the curriculum as separate and isolated “ends” in and of themselves, but it uses hundreds of subjects as a means of helping each student grow as a contributor. Parents and teachers unite to help students grow in seven powers of contributive behavior. You can begin to change your school and family to a peaceful culture by assessing how well your home or school is doing each of the following as a form of shared accountability. Ask yourself, on a scale of zero to ten, how well your school and/or family are doing in developing each of these fundamental powers: 1. The power of identity: To what degree does your school/home help students know who they are, see their great potential as contributors, and develop their unique talents, gifts, interests and abilities? 2. The power of inquiry: To what degree is your school/home nurturing curiosity and help- ing students learn how to ask good questions? Do teachers and parents set an example of a curious, inquiring attitude? 3. The power of interaction: To what degree does my school/home promote respect, courtesy, caring, communication, and cooperation? 4. The power of initiative: How much does this school/home foster self-directed learning, self-reliance, will power and self-evaluation? 5. The power of imagination: How much does this school/home nurture creativity and creative expression? 6. The power of intuition: How much does this school/home help students discover truth with their hearts as well as with their minds? 7. The power of integrity: To what degree does this school/home develop honesty, character, morality, and responsibility for self? 8. The power of partnership: To what degree do teachers and parents work as full partners to help students grow as contributors to the school, home and community? If we change the main purpose of education, to help children aspire to be contributors to society, think of the good it could do. While I was principal of three different elementary schools in Davis School District, our county built two jails, one of them a monster with hundreds of cells and beds. The teachers were appalled at how much money was being spent on incarceration of lawbreakers that could have been spent on education. Teachers and parents decided it would be better to help students see the value of contributing over the disadvantages of showing burdensome behavior. They found that even very young children could recognize and experience the good feelings they got whenever they were “contributors” in school compared with the feelings they had when they were not contributing. The teachers and parents in the Educating for Greatness Alliance believe it is entirely possible to change the main purpose of education. We can help each student find and develop his or her reason for existing to be a special contributor to society. All it will take is a steady concentration on this purpose by students, parents and teachers. Over time, if we are persistent, we will begin to see a culture of violence replaced by a culture of peace. Lynn Stoddard, a retired educator, is the author of four books on the need to transform public education to meet the needs of students. He lives in Farmington and can be reached at <lstrd@yahoo.com> Note: This commentary ran in the Standard Examiner on January 4, 2013, and is being reprinted in 2012. OPEN IN EDEN Come Make Your Valentine’s Day Special With Us 508 Ogden Canyon Tuesday - Saturday: 5:00 p.m.- 10:00 p.m. (801) 392-6775 Sunday: 10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. & 3-8:00 p.m. Assisted Living in Ogden Valley www.grayclifflodge.com Reservations accepted. t Nutritional, Homemade Meals Prepared by our In-House Chef Luis t Loving, Personal Care from Staff t In-House Beauty Salon t 24-Hr. Medication Management and Help with Activities of Daily Living t Level 2 Facility with CNAs on Staff t Make an Appointment for Lunch and a Tour Formerly The Red Moose Lodge in Eden. 2547 N. Valley Junction Drive Call 801-745-6667 or 801-541-3336 www.beehivehomes.com |