Oxford School shooting

This should be a post about the year in review

A lot of really good things happened in 2021, but we're not going to talk about them yet. Right now we're going to talk about a school shooting. Oxford is a town not unfamiliar to myself or a lot of people in Michigan, but now its known in the names of towns with schools that had a mass shooter kill and injure kids.

A lot of people focus on different things, but let's focus on the victims. Madisyn Baldwin, Tate Myre, Justin Shiling, and Hana St. Juliana died in this incident along with Phoebe Arthur, John Asciutto, Riley Franz, Elijah Mueller, Kylie Ossege, Aiden Watson and teacher Molly Darnell who were injured from the gunfire. Not to mention the trauma experienced by students, parents, teachers and staff who were or knew someone who was involved. And even more so from the copycat events that have plagued the cities and towns nearby. This affects all of us.

I've talked about gun violence in the past, but especially when shootings happen at schools and colleges, it's just as relevant. Kids and young adults should be able to learn without fear of being shot, whether it be random or not. There is enough pressure and issues that children, teens, and young adults deal with in general. We cannot keep allowing each active shooter event to numb us to the need for action to keep kids safe.

It's the most wonderful time of the year for some, but for many, this time of the year is hard and just became even harder. Take some time to share joy with people who might not be able to find any right now. Let's comfort each other and check in to see if people are okay.

Our best wishes go out to the families and friends of those who died in this tragedy as they go into the holiday season without their loved ones. Our best also to those who survived as they work through the trauma this caused. Our best also to you and yours, wishing you a safe and happy holiday.