Conflict and Compromise

As the saying goes, “No good deed goes unpunished.”  Last week I participated in judging a National History Day competition at our local middle school where students present their studies on a topic they have chosen and researched within the national theme.  This year’s theme was “Conflict and Compromise.”

I was impressed by the number of sixth, seventh and eighth graders who spent countless hours researching and preparing their presentations.  As a judge, I was charged to critique a handful of the many storyboards set up in the cafeteria as well as interviewing the presenters to determine how well they understood the information they had on display.  So, each time I approached a storyboard, I held out my hand to the presenter, introduced myself and we got started.

The topics were rich and varied, covering instances in American history.  The one that impressed me the most told the story of the Meatpacking Inspection Act of 1906 where the storyboard was covered in brown paper and twine and had pictures of Teddy Roosevelt and the Rough Riders and political cartoons of the time.  Displayed in front of the board was a stack of Armour Potted Meat and a copy of Sinclair Lewis’ The Jungle.  Clearly these gals had left no stone unturned as they delved into the topic of early food safety regulations.  The conflict was clearly stated but the compromise was a bit murky.

In fact, almost all of the projects displayed articulated a real crisis in American History but none was able to fully articulate a compromise with the exception of events like the Compromise of 1850, where the compromise was readily apparent.  I guess it’s really not a surprise that young people today have difficulty in detecting areas of compromise in American history.  Given the current situation in Congress, there has been little compromise to refer to as an example.

What I wasn’t aware of at the time was that a particularly nasty version of an intestinal virus was running its course through the school population or I would have used the antebacterial gel I carry in my purse.  A couple of days later I realized the result of my folly and have spent the better part of the week recovering, stuck on the couch with the television.

This morning, as I watched the morning news, I watched in numbing despair as the details of the latest school shooting in Florida.  Like most people, I am utterly frustrated with the level of gun violence in our schools.  It seems like there is a story about a shooting almost every day.  So, I did a little poking around on the web and the stats I found are sickening.  I learned that since 2010, there have been 207 school shootings in the US.  Since the beginning of 2018, there have been nine shootings with twenty children losing their lives  and just as a reality check, that is only six weeks.  Despite this, legislators are reluctant to work toward a ban on assault weapons, calling this attempt to restrict gun ownership a “slippery slope.”  Instead, there seems to be a focus on providing mental health care to those who might act out in violence or placing more armed guards on school grounds.

Maybe banning assault weapons isn’t the answer to the growing danger of gun violence in our schools, but it certainly would be a start; a start not only on limiting access of these dangerous weapons but also a start of demonstrating to our children what it means to compromise; where each side gives a little ground for the greater good.

 

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