St. Valentine's Day 2018 brought us another horror that we mourn today.  This one at Marjory Stoneman Douglass High School in Parkland, Florida.

            Seventeen students killed at the hand of another teenager.

            Blame Nikolas Cruz, who is accused of carrying the weapon and pulling the trigger.  But, there is so much more to it.  The fact that there have been 25 active school shootings since the horror at Columbine in 1999, nearly all committed by teenagers, begs to us that a solution must come from more than one source.

            Millennials may not have heard the lyrics of the Crosby, Stills and Nash ballad "Teach Your Children," but most baby-boomers have.

            In the lyrics are the words, "Teach your children well, their father's hell did slowly go by.  And feed them on your dreams, the one they pick's the one you'll know why."

            What are your dreams? Your actions?  What are you teaching the children through your words, actions and treatment of them?

            In years gone by we had Sally Starr, Captain Kangaroo, Pete Boyle, Pixanne, Chief Halftown, Wee-Willie-Weber, and Captain Noah among so many others to entertain us before and after school. Didn't feel like watching TV? There were plenty of pick-up games to be had in the neighborhood or just the pleasure of "hanging out" with friends until suppertime. 

            There was no internet, cell phones or social media.  Hate was a word you reserved for the punishment you would receive if you disrespected anyone.

            Today?  Well, you fill in the blanks of what's available on the internet, the violence on TV and in movies, hate spewing on social media pages and violence in video games.  Think about what your breakfast and dinner conversations (if you still have them) are like with your family – especially your children.

            The problem is like an octopus – if you cutoff one tentacle, it still has seven others to grab you with.  If we stop at only cutting off one tentacle, then people who profess to be all about law and order run the risk of appearing not to care about either.

            We cannot watch our children being gunned down again and again without doing something to prevent it.  That means all of us.

            We can learn by listening to what our youth have to say.  They can learn by listening to what we have to say.

            The closing verse of the Crosby, Stills and Nash song tells our youth to, "Teach your parents well, their children's hell will slowly go by.  And feed them on your dreams, the one they pick's the one you'll know by."

            The CSN lyrics tell us to communicate – and that the communication can go both ways.  Respect all and teach your children. The future is theirs.

            Sound changes in our gun and gun ownership laws are only a small part of the solution.  We all are the larger part of that solution.