I have become increasingly saddened by the amount of senseless killings worldwide, allied to the increase in suicide amongst all age and genders, and on reflection I thought I would add my voice to the debate.When you look at violence and deprivation as a societal construct, it is indicative of a much deeper morass, what happened in the USA recently and indeed what has been replicated in other Countries is a sign that “things” are becoming more valuable than people. We are losing the art of community, the art of conversation and the ability to have relationships with each other.There is a dishonesty about the way we interact with each other. This disconnect is allowing us to cause harm to each other because we no longer feel, we no longer have a sense of what is right and wrong, positive and negative. The teaching of our children starts with us, the parents, yet we spend less and less time with our children, we try to get them involved in everything and wonder why they don’t want to talk to us, why they are annoyed and angry. We need to start talking to and teaching our young people how to have relationships with themselves and others. When we start to have relationships again, when we re-build our communities, when we start to educate our children in how society functions, and when we take control of and responsibility for our thoughts , words and actions, we then might begin to see a better world.
Adrian McKenna is a frontline child care professional; he has worked for many years with young people and adults in residential care, detention services, mental health services and post-adoption services. He currently works with a large Dublin-based charity. He is a Member of The Irish Association of Social Care Workers, Social Justice Ireland and the YES Campaign for Children.
All views expressed are entirely my own unless otherwise stated and are not representative of any organisation or employer past , present or future.
"I care because I care" 