Hello Representative Holt,
The social media channel is being lit up with condolences, outrage, and expressions of deep sadness over the shootings in Connecticut yesterday. But people are lost as to where to put their anger and misery. Some people are blaming guns, others are more specific in blaming assault weapons, others are blaming poor mental health services, violence on television and in film and video games, poor parenting, etc., etc., etc.
As a leader, can you suggest what we can be collectively doing to get our heads and hearts around solving the problem of violence in this country? Can you spark a task force, or committee, or some kind of special project fueled by people who are passionate about changing the way America deals with these issues? Can we get out ahead of the problems, identify the multiple causes that lead to these horrific acts, and find ways to address them?
Isn't there some kind of computer modeling we can do to demonstrate that, for example, that not dealing with a disturbed child properly in school can have x# of consequences, but by investing in Option A, B, or C, we reduce the likelihood of a violent act by that child by 90%? Couldn't this modeling be applied to the other factors, and perhaps we can create a visual representation that will help people see that we need to take the consequences of inaction more seriously?
We just seem to be stuck in reactive mode in our society, but with technology, education, tools and proactivity, perhaps we can get people to invest in changing our approach to the problems that beset us.
I'm like the other people who are so angry, disgusted, and struggling to find a solution. I'm wondering if as an elected leader there is some initiative that you can start or tag onto that can build a groundswell for change. And of course if you can, I am there to assist as I know thousands of others would be too.
Veronica Fielding
