michelleponders

Another parent has been charged after another school shooting. In Georgia, 14 year old Colt Gray took a semiautomatic rifle to his high school, started shooting and killed 4 and injured 9 others. He has been charged with murder and will be charged as an adult. After questioning Colt’s father, Colin Gray was also charged in the shooting. Colin was charged with four counts of involuntary manslaughter, two counts of second-degree murder and eight counts of cruelty to children. But is it really Colin Gray’s fault that his son left school, acquired a rifle and went back to the school and started shooting? In my opinion, Colin played a huge part.

Colt had been having issues with being bullied and mental health issues last year. And then, Colt was questioned for possibly threatening to shooting up a school online, which was seen and reported to law enforcement. Colt denied publishing the threat online. Colin was questioned as well and stated he had no idea of any threats of shooting a school by his son and this concerned him. Colin did not believe Colt would do such a thing but admitted that his son had been having issues with being bullied. Then, for Christmas last year, Colin gave Colt a semiautomatic rifle as a gift and taught Colt how to use it by taking Colt hunting. Now, I understand this is a right of passage for boys, especially for those who live in rural communities. And if someone hunts for dear meat and such, that is fine. But when your son is having mental health issues, the last thing you would do as a parent is buy him a rifle for Christmas and teach him how to use it. And if there are firearms in your house, which there was in this situation, you definitely keep firearms locked up and unloaded in a gun case. That is your responsibility as a parent with firearms in your house. Obviously, Colin Gray dropped the ball as a parent with firearms in his home. And now he is being charged accordingly.

Now where is Colt’s mother? Marcee claimed spousal abuse and in 2023 the Grays divorced and Colin left with Colt leaving Marcee with the 2 younger children. Marcee has a fairly lengthy criminal record dating back to 2007 which includes drug possession, DUI, family violence and property damage amongst other charges. Her latest charges were drug possession of meth and fentanyl as well as using license plates to conceal identity in November of 2023. Part of her plea deal for those charges were a no contact order with her ex-husband and had to go through a 3rd party for anything concerning the kids or the divorce. So basically, Marcee has been just as irresponsible as a mother.

Colt had been exhibiting mental health issues for sometime since his parents divorce. That is quite typical. Being a teenager is hard enough, but also dealing with your parents divorce makes it even tougher. Colt had already been investigated in 2023 for possible threats of shooting up a school on a social media platform. Colt claimed it wasn’t him and when his father, Colin, was questioned, Colin knew this was serious and didn’t think his son would do such a thing. But Colin seemed to be in denial about his son having any mental health issues. Colt was in contact with his mom and Marcee seemed to pick up on her son’s mental health crisis but didn’t seem to do anything. She actually racked up more drug charges later in the year. Just more irresponsible behavior. The day of the shooting Marcee did contact the school and told them to find her son because he was in crisis. Colt had sent her a text and she was afraid he would harm himself. Now as a parent, you can’t possible know what your child will do when he or she is in crisis mode. I do find it interesting that Colt would reach out to his mom. Marcee did make an attempt to warn the school but Colt had already put his plan into motion and we all know what happened next. Of course, I’m still trying to figure out why Colin didn’t seemed to be concerned about Colt’s mental health considering his son had already been investigated. But then again, Colin’s way of “helping” his son was to get him and AR style rifle for Christmas so there’s that. So irresponsible.

It does take a village to raise a child. And I’m not talking about Hillary Clinton’s village either. I have raised 3 kids. I made sure they were in church from the time they were babies. I was a single mom when they were teenagers. Their father wasn’t around for reasons of his own actions. I got remarried and they have a stepdad who helped in launching them. It was not easy. I made my share of mistakes during those teen years. But I worked very hard at being an involved parent. I gave them space but when it was warranted, I was up in their business like no tomorrow. I allowed people to influence how I parented when they had no business telling me anything. No one knew what our home life was like before and after the divorce. But once I got my head on straight, I tried really hard to get my kids the help they needed. I supported my kids in their decisions. But I also laid down ground rules and there were consequences when they weren’t followed. They will tell you that I did my best considering all we, as a family, went through. And that was just it. I did what I could to help my kids. To be involved in their lives. To be there when they needed me. Everything starts with the parents. Then the village grows from there. But if the parents do not step up and be the responsible, unselfish adults that they are called to be, our children are doomed.

But we have chosen to take the easy road and be selfish adults. We have molly coddled our children to the point that they have no respect for authority. Kids today are put on medication so the parents don’t have to discipline them. And let’s face it, we aren’t raising our children in the fear and admiration of God. Families do not attend church like they once did and it is very obvious. Parents need godly advice from older Christian parents who’ve already raised their children. There is much wisdom to be had from fellow Christian parents. Our village starts with extended family and branches out to the church. At least that’s how it used to be. And when parents have to move away from family for jobs, the church would be invaluable as the the village.

That is how it should be today. Parents need to be the godly parents they were called to be. Once you become a parent, you can no longer be selfish. As a parent, you must be aware of what is happening in pop culture and the world, as one day you will not be able to protect your children from the world and they need to be ready with a godly world view. As parents, it is our job to make sure our children are brought up in the fear and admiration of the Lord.(Eph 6:4) We need to talk to our kids no matter how tired we are after work. It is ok to say no. It is ok if our children get mad at us. It is ok for our children to cry to us. It is ok for our children to make mistakes and learn from them. Through it all, we have to walk beside our children and guide them. And before you know it, your children will be grown. Then we can be their friend as an adult.