[20525] in APO-L
Columbine Tragedy
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Kegan J. Baird)
Wed Apr 21 11:10:44 1999
Date: Wed, 21 Apr 1999 09:02:03 -0600
Reply-To: "Kegan J. Baird" <kxbaird@USWEST.COM>
From: "Kegan J. Baird" <kxbaird@USWEST.COM>
To: APO-L@LISTSERV.IUPUI.EDU
Undoubtedly, there are very few of you out there who haven't heard yet about the
tragedy here in Colorado. As the Sec. 30 Chair, living here in Denver, I can
tell you that it is both worse and better than you can imagine. Worse in the
sense that sound bites and news conferences can not capture the overwhelming
sense of a city hushed in mourning, or the feeling in the pit of your stomach
when you can see the helicopters hovering from the highway on your way home from
work. Better in the sense that you can't imagine the way in which a tragedy of
this sort brings a city of a million or more together and creates a palpable
sense of community. In between, you have the irony that you had to have the
tragedy to create the sense of community.
In the aftermath of this tragedy, I have no doubt that many of you out there
start by feeling helpless, but then become resolved to doing something
life-affirming to counteract that feeling of helplessness. Let me offer a few
suggestions.
Unfortunately, this tragedy is not like the hurricanes and floods that our
brotherhood has dealt with in the past. What has been taken from the families
and the students who lost loved ones in the killing is the one thing that can
not be replaced. In this tragedy, there are no homeless we can build houses
for, or hungry that we can collect canned goods to feed. The very random and
senseless nature of the violence involved prevents our organization from lending
much of a hand to those touched directly by the killings.
However, our founder does offer something that we can do, and in this I have to
disagree with the Jami and Jesse who have posted previously on this subject.
Some may feel that we can't touch young people in the way needed to prevent this
tragedy, but that is what I say we must do. This kind of terrorism and random
killing is just that: random. We can't predict it, and nothing short of putting
armed guards and metal detectors everywhere people congregate can attempt to
protect against it.
What we must do is deepen our resolve to be a positive influence on the youths
of our nation. We are already committed to scouting and other youth
organizations, and the good we have already done is great, but it is not
enough. I applaud all the chapters who have merit badge universities, or
sponsor college days for local high schools, but I challenge you to be even more
involved. The kind of influence we are seeking with these kids can not be
generated during a one hour or even a day-long service project. In order to
mentor kids, you need to develop a relationship with them, and that can only
happen over time and one kid at a time.
My suggestion is for chapters to concentrate some of their energy on a regular
service project, probably something on a weekly basis, where they can forge a
mentoring relationship with kids. As an example, my chapter has sponsored
morning math tutoring at a local high school on Saturdays since I became
involved in APO. I go regularly, and similarly, there are a number of kids that
show up almost every weekend. It is with those kids that I have formed a
mentoring relationship, and consequently realized the value of a such a program.
While I doubt that my math ministrations could directly prevent a tragedy such
as this, I do believe that the only way we can prevent this is for our society
to become much more involved in our youth, and these kind of programs are a way
for our organization to become a link in that vital chain. We can not make a
difference overnight, but we can not let that stop us from making a difference.
In Brotherhood to Mankind,
Kegan Baird
