Janet Gilbert recently wrote an article in which she names the best prevention for violence, in her opinion:
[…]when the coverage of the funerals is over, we will be asking ourselves, what can we do to prevent this sort of thing? And I think I know the answer.
I have no training in security, but I know it is not gun control.
I have no training in psychology, but I know it is not – at least initially – counseling.
I have no training in education, but I know it is not a nationwide violence-prevention program at the grade-school level.
I believe the answer is committed parenting.
Parenting is the most important job we take on with absolutely no training, except for what we learn by observing our parents.
I think quality parenting can greatly prevent violence and tragedies. However, it won’t end them, because a parent can only raise their own kids, and so some kids will still grow up and turn into nutjubs. No matter how well a parent parents their child, their child can still get shot in a school shooting. We also need to take collective initiatives to protect the innocent kids of good parents from the dangerous kids of perhaps bad parents.
Anyway, I still recommend reading Janet Gilbert’s article, because she explains what individual parents need to do to raise non-violent children.
What do you think?
