When we woke up Monday morning, all of us at Rainbow Rabbit were excited to kick off National Bullying Prevention Month 2017. Upon hearing the news about the shootings in Las Vegas, however, that excitement quickly dissipated.
What transpired in the early hours of that fateful morning is so unfathomable, there is simply no other way to describe it. Horrid? Awful? Tragic? All overused adjectives which seem rather hollow right now. Associating them with the lives of over 50 innocent human beings who were simply attending a concert, only to have their lives senselessly ended by (from what we know) one deranged individual, is not fair. All their memories, life milestones, fun times they shared with loved ones. All gone. And it took one second.
Yes. No words.
So what’s next? We stand united, of course. We decorate our Facebook pages with logos showing our solidarity. Support for said city of the week, along with its victims. Just like we did for Sandy Hook, Boston, Paris and the Pulse nightclub victims in Orlando. Las Vegas will be no different. This goes on for about a week, and then it stops. As the families of those who perished live with grief and pain for the rest of their lives, we hope for the best. That something this nightmarish never happens again.
Until it does.
There needs to be more than this. There’s something missing here, but there’s no clear cut answer.
Can we prevent a Las Vegas incident from happening again?
We obviously have no control over the actions of people so tortured that they prioritize their motives and clouded judgment ahead of the lives of countless others. However, there is something we do to make a difference if we are able: shape the lives, thoughts and mindsets of the young children of the world in the most positive way humanly possible.
In the midst of chaos, nobody said this will be an easy task. That being said, these children are the future, and despite our heartache and disappointment in humanity as a whole, we have to show them that love, kindness, acceptance and tolerance can have a long lasting impact. We have the power to do this. It seems these messages have gotten lost somewhere along the way. They have been replaced by negativity and anger. If they can be taught that this is unacceptable during their formative years, it will give them hope, and possibly, hope for us all.
Our mission statement at Rainbow Rabbit is to empower children, parents, and educators, who are all navigating their way through tough challenging times. We are more determined than ever to accomplish this. We can’t afford to wait any longer. There can be no more waiting. There can’t be another Las Vegas.
Please be good to one another.
Sincerely,
Joe Vallee
The Rainbow Rabbit Organization