A Message To My Four Grandchildren

When I was in elementary school we had fire drills. Then when I was in high school I was part of the “Safety Unit,” manning the stairwells to ensure students only used the correct pathways to a safe exit during similar drills. Most students treated those drills as a joke, enjoying a break from classes, and getting outside on a nice spring day.

I never inquired, but I suppose things were the same for our kids, your parents, who were public school students in the late 80s and throughout the 90s, with those same drills that no one took seriously.

Then came April 20, 1999, and with Columbine, the beginning of the school shooter era.

So the drills that you, my four grandchildren will get used to are active shooter drills. And I fear you need to take them seriously.

Of all the countries in the world, only this one can’t figure out how to stop mass shootings — be they in the workplace, a shopping mall, or an elementary school.

The country you live in is overloaded with firearms. The adults are numb to the daily murder numbers until they impinge on the parts of the city they care about.

We can reel off the locations of mass shootings, but as a government, as a people, we have failed your generation.

I hope someday, someday soon, we adults will start doing the smart things, and you kids can go to school, to houses of worship, and to fun places too, and not have to worry about whether you will make it to tomorrow.

You deserve a safe, happy future.

With Love,

Your Baba

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