Symptoms

We are again treating
The symptoms of
A mass school shooting,
Rather than addressing
The disease beneath.
Gun control is both a
Symptom and a part
Of the disease of fear
And mistrust that
Permeates our society.
The disease that is at
The heart of our dilemma
Is ignorance of reality due
To a lack of real time
Spent together by
Parents and children
And the learning of basic
Truths about right and wrong
Of which civics and ethics
Are the foundation.
We opt for warehousing
Our preschool children
And after-school kids,
Allowing TV and gizmos
To shape their perspective.
Raising a child is a full time
Job and we do not reward
Mothers for such duty.
Treating the symptoms
Of school shootings
Will do nothing to
Cure the disease our
Society suffers from,
Greed for material objects
Over the welfare of
Our children.
Easier to hire
More guards
And search for
Abnormalities
In teenage males,
Have you ever met
A teenage boy
Who at one time
Or another did
Not act like
A teen?