ABSTRACT
Prompted by the killing of 20 innocent children and six dedicated educators in a school, at a prayer vigil in Newtown, Connecticut, on the evening of December 16, 2012, President Barack Obama challenged the country to think about America’s children:
And in that way, we come to realize that we bear a responsibility for every child because we’re counting on everybody else to help look after ours; that we’re all parents; that they’re all our children.
This is our first task—caring for our children. It’s our first job. If we don’t get that right, we don’t get anything right. That’s how, as a society, we will be judged.
And by that measure, can we truly say, as a nation, that we are meeting our obligations? Can we honestly say that we’re doing enough to keep our children—all of them—safe from harm? Can we claim, as a nation, that we’re all together there, letting them know that they are loved, and teaching them to love in return? Can we say that we’re truly doing enough to give all the children of this country the chance they deserve to live out their lives in happiness and with purpose?
(Washington Post Staff, 2012) While many anticipated Obama’s impassioned speech would result in new policies about gun control and school safety, the country has been disappointed time and again.