Mollie Freebairn
Jefferson City
Dear Editor:
While all children are children of God, it is safe to say that none of our children will ever be locked up in Missouri state prisons. Our children are provided for. They do not lack for the necessities of life. So whose children are we talking about? What is the difference in the widening chasm between our children, and the ones that state legislators are seeking to try as adults and blot out their young lives in our state prisons? Where are their parents? Do they not care for their offspring? Or do they care very much, but they lack access to health care, family planning, education, jobs, contraceptives, legal counsel, or their own parental guidance, as they bring their families into the world?
For a child to commit a violent crime, they are a victim of a violent crime. They are living under heinous conditions and circumstances. To punish their crimes without addressing the root causes for the crimes is, in itself, criminal. Violent children are the brightly flashing, piercingly screaming siren alarms of a broken, failed system - inhumane in its knee-jerk reactions - not doing its job.
This is the crux of what young adult protesters are desperately demonstrating to bring to our attention! Let us not shoot these young messengers with pepper bullets, arrest and criminalize them behind bars as well. Let us not fail to recognize the glaring failures of the system. Let us take positive actions to ensure the necessities of life are being met in our cities and rural areas alike!
All children are children of God. The solutions to gun violence by children in Missouri may not be as simple as locking children in prison. Nevertheless, it is the only way to ensure that all of our children live in a state that has prepared them to meet the challenges and reap the joys of a wonderful future! If we so choose, we can make that happen. What it takes is a clear-eyed assessment of where we are now, an inclusive vision of a more prosperous, better quality of life for all Missourians, and a step-wise, long-range plan to get us there.