First, I bet you that just because of that strap line I get more visitors to my blog than any of the others that I have put out. In fact, in a few days I will tell you how many visitors I had to my blog in comparison to the one from yesterday.
There will be many reasons for this, but the main reason is that people like rawness. We as humans like to be shocked to some extent. And for the blessed ones among us who have never been exposed to violence, gangs, death and such, an opening line like the one above makes people go “oh, that’s shocking let me read”
But hear this, and make sure you take it in…yesterday two CHILDREN were shot.Shooting
Two CHILDREN aged 13 and 15. Were they in a gang? I don’t know. Was the person that shot them in a gang? I don’t know. What I do know is this.
Yesterday 2 children were shot. In the street. Where people could see. They were aged 13 and 15 and I guarantee you these things:
Lots of people saw the story on their news feed of what ever social media platform they use. Some people went “Oh that’s shocking” read the article and moved on. Some people saw the headline, though it was shocking and scrolled down to the next story.
Some people didn’t even flinch when they read the headline. Some people have become so desensitised to it that they wont even react.
The two children will not be the last children to be shot in 2018.
So here we are. You have read this far, so let me ask you a question. Did the shooting shock you? How does that make you feel? I know what you’re thinking, “what can I do about it Kendra? I’m just sitting here on a bank holiday Monday in the sun and now you’re trying to ruin my day by asking me what I am doing about knife and gun crime! I only read this far because you said you held a gun when you were 13.”
Even sitting in a beer garden on a bank holiday Monday you can do something. Sign the petition attached that Junior Smart is trying to promote. Write an email to your local councillor telling them how shocked you are about all this. Go on your social media and tell people how you feel, get people talking. Start a blog. Just do something. You can’t just scroll to the next page and do nothing. WE can do something. Our children’s blood is spilling on the streets and people are spending more time reading “21 life hacks” than trying to make a difference to the murder of children. Come on now.
Fix up.
Let’s say, hypothetically, a 13-year-old girl did hold a gun for the first time when she was 13. Let’s say, for arguments sake, that she was given that gun to hide. But she didn’t like to keep it in her house because her mum may find it. Imagine, that she carried that gun around for weeks, wrapped in a bandana in her ‘Naf Naf’ back pack. Not saying a word to anyone. Then let’s say she gets into some beef with some older gang members and they say they are coming to her house…where her mum is…and are going to run through her house. Maybe she got that gun out and thought about using it. Trying to fire a practice shot of the Webley revolver hiding in her back pack but couldn’t stop her hands and arms from shaking.
Maybe she did not fully understand the consequences of what it meant to hold and use a gun. Maybe she is sickened that children are killing children in 2018 and people just scroll past.
Will you?