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GUEST OPINION Guest Opinion: We know what to do to prevent mass shootings Comment By Kathie Olsen MailTribune.com By Kathie Olsen Posted Oct. 10, 2015 at 2:00 AM Updated Oct 10, 2015 at 11:01 AM By Kathie Olsen Posted Oct. 10, 2015 at 2:00 AM Updated Oct 10, 2015 at 11:01 AM » Social News Because I work for a foundation whose home is in Roseburg, I have received several lovely and heart-felt messages in response to the horror of the shootings there. I have felt the sincerity of thoughts and prayers, I have listened to the agonized expressions of frustration and anger, and they touch me deeply. That said, they also make me very angry. The receptionist in our building lost her son on that day. There is no fixing that heartache. People say, “I don’t know what to do.” And I say, “Oh yes you do know what to do. We all know what to do.” To me this isn’t about gun control; that argument has polarized us and not moved us toward any real peace, and, besides, it isn’t always guns that inflict terror. What I’m talking about is basic prevention, which comes from basic human services — those underfunded, over-tasked programs that try to help unstable families, kids in trouble, the mentally ill. If those services were easily and amply available, if the priorities of this country were on growing healthy and sane children, these tragedies could be averted. I am thinking about the teacher with too many kids in her classes and only one overworked counselor available to a whole school. That teacher sees a kid who is angry and lacking basic empathy, but she has little time to do other than make a quick note. Certainly she doesn’t have time to do family counseling. Even if Child Protective Services steps in, what are their options? They don’t have enough workers to tend to more than the most severe cases, and even those cases have few solutions available: an overburdened and underfunded foster care system? I am thinking about the mom who knows her kid is unhappy, deeply unhappy. Or the neighborhood parent who doesn’t want his child to play with another child because he sees violence there. What can he do? We need simple answers. Easily accessible answers. We need little cards that list fully staffed agencies that are prepared to help. We need public service campaigns that give usable information. And we need the big stuff: We need mental health facilities that work. We need family support services in every town. We need child-care centers with trained staffs to provide loving care to our kids. We need a support web that keeps families from misery. We need training for our first responders so they can deal with the mentally ill. I can think of at least three times in the life of that deranged gunman when someone could have stepped in and averted this horror — when his first-grade teacher noticed how withdrawn he was, when the military discharged him for being unstable, and when his friends heard how angry and unstable he was. Wouldn’t it have been a profound blessing if people had known what to do then? What we have to do is develop some passion, some anger, some hope, some ferocity sufficient to make us move and change. You know the old saw — “if you aren’t part of the solution, you’re part of the problem.” Well, roll up your sleeves. Stop whining about it. Do everything you can. Do it now. Get strong and start where you are. Vote “yes” when asked to support basic services and education. Help out at your kids’ school. Insist on goodness and justice. Stand up to hate-talk. Tithe. Speak up. Help out that kid down the block. Cultural change isn’t going to come from the top down. And it is cultural change that we need. Our priorities as a nation have to be shaken. Less war, more child care. Less corporate privilege, better wages for workers. Less judgment, more support for parents. Less incarceration, more education. No tolerance for violence. There will always be a disturbed person ready to do harm. We can find them and stop them before they do. We can do this without tromping on civil liberties. We can do this in a humane and thoughtful way. We know how. We do. We just have to do it. That Thursday in Roseburg should never — ever — be replicated. Anywhere. Anytime. Kathie Olsen of Jacksonville, a longtime Rogue Valley resident, is former president of the United Way of Jackson County board of directors, former executive director of the Rogue Community College Foundation, served on several nonprofit boards of directors and spent 10 years on the staff of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. By Kathie Olsen MailTribune.com By Kathie Olsen Posted Oct. 10, 2015 at 2:00 AM Updated Oct 10, 2015 at 11:01 AM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... 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