Yesterday, while chaos unfolded in Nashville, I sang the wheels on the bus to my 3 month old and hoped he would never have to get on one.
And just to be clear, I don’t have anything against school busses.
Not any more.
The truth is I used to be weary of school buses because we didn’t have them in my town growing up and it’s normal to be weary about things we don’t understand. Like how do kids know which one to get on when they all look the same? Why do they smell funny? And are there any seatbelts?
But now we have bigger problems and school buses are the least of my worries.
What I am worried about is the repeated, senseless, avoidable, gun violence taking place in this country - particularly schools.
We live in a world - no in a country - where gun violence is the #1 leading cause of death for American children and teens.
A country where since 2013 there were at least 1063 incidents of gunfire on school grounds, resulting in 349 deaths and 754 injuries nationally (Everytown).
I watched a video yesterday that showed police cars escorting a caravan of school buses as they whisked students away from the scene of yet another school shooting.
I thought of the tear streaked little faces on board, the parents waiting to be reunited with their babies, and the bus drivers who most certainly did not think this would be how they spent their day - each forever changed.
This wasn’t how the song was supposed to go.
But like the song it feels like we keep spinning our wheels, round and round, each time we fail to correct a problem that should never have existed in the first place.
I am sad. I am angry.
I am writing.
First this, then my state senator, representative and legislator asking for stricter licensing, mandatory background checks, mandatory gun safety training, gun buy back programs, and a ban on all automatic assault rifles.
I refuse to keep spinning my wheels.