HIgher Powers

When we moved into our house, with its Main Road energy and deep backyard pool, the children were five and two years old. Neither my husband nor I had ever had much experience with either.

As most parents may admit, close proximity to such childhood hazards tend to haunt us. We made all kinds of plans and rules that the children mostly followed. They learned to cross streets under our watchful eye and, above and beyond the dual-locking fence gate, promised to never swim without an adult present.

We promised ourselves we would minimize any and all distractions when we were on swim or traffic duty. Which I know I faithfully executed.

But I can admit, it certainly felt like I was holding my breath for three months each summer – once my husband happily and fearlessly peeled back the pool cover – until he stretched it back over the gaping waterhole.

Finally, I could exhale.

Of course, the inverse held true for the state of my respirations at the start of each school year, and the summer months always provided a respite from news of mass shootings inside places of education. Only the fear seemed so much more daunting because in my mind there was little more I could do to prevent tragedy from visiting our family than deciding not to own a gun that could be turned against me or someone else.

So, without any other form of control, the only thing left to do is push it as far from the front of your thoughts as possible. Let it live in the shadowy gray hope of Things Like This Don’t Happen Here. Despite knowing well enough that they do.

I focused instead on making sure the kids’ were prepared for school, right down to ensuring their vaccinations were up to date.

The hardest part of it all is knowing that it doesn’t have to be this way.

We have never been without power to make our lives and our experiences better. Just like the fence that encircles our pool … or the seatbelts that brought three-point restraint to all occupants of a car (regardless of which seat one inhabited or how old the passenger is who is sitting there.

We know these small changes save lives. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, seatbelts have saved more than 375,000 lives since laws mandating their use was implemented in 1975.

And as for water safety? Center for Disease Control  injury prevention experts, in one of their last studies before their jobs were eliminated this year, found that hundreds of lives could be saved with wider use of fencing and life jackets. The CDC’s modeling found that out of 4,509 drowning deaths reported in 2022, fifty-one could have been prevented by better pool fencing and 297 could have been prevented by wearing a life vest while boating.

There was a time when the leaders of the nation would think 51 deaths from a preventable cause was worth pursuing meaningful change. That is no longer the case. Especially not when the case is about deaths by firearms.

Multiple research organizations across many platforms, from healthcare to academia to those born by tragedy in our communities nationwide, agree that tens of thousands of deaths could be prevented by strengthening laws that include safe storage laws, bans on assault weapons, purchase waiting periods, and red flag confiscations. State-by-state comparisons show the correlation between restrictions and a lower death toll from guns.

So much more to worry about now, it’s hard to focus. 

As our children go back to school … be it a neighborhood primary school or a sprawling university campus .. let’s take a time to catch our breath and remember: We are not powerless.