Witnesses to the shooting leave after talking to the police. AP Photo/The Denver Post, Craig F. Walker
An emergency preparedness expert writing for the Homeland Security Policy Institute suggests the parents of children shot in the Colorado movie theater massacre are responsible for taking their kids to a movie theater that late in the evening.
Initial reports state children as young as four months old were among the victims injured when suspect James Holmes opened fire on the audience in a movie theater during the midnight screening of “The Dark Knight Rises.”
The final movie in the Batman series is described as particularly dark and violent and is rated PG-13. It is not geared toward young children. You can watch the trailer here:
Rich Cooper — who has worked in the Department of Homeland Security’s Private Sector Office and is Chairman of the National Defense Industrial Association — writes in a blog entry titled “After Colorado Tragedy, Contemplating the Responsibilities of Why” that he questions why children were in the movie theater in the first place.
While he acknowledges no parent takes their kid to a movie expecting it to be shot up, he writes the tragedy could have been mitigated if the parents hadn’t taken the kids:
That’s a brutal and judgmental statement to make, but it’s a decision that will be talked about in the days and weeks to come. It’s also a horrifically painful decision that those movie-going parents will have to deal with for the rest of their lives.
There is a weighted responsibility that comes with parenthood. You have to care, feed, nurture, teach and most of all, love a child to get them ready for a world that can be bright and beautiful as well as beastly and brutal.
I am far from ever being a perfect parent. I’ve expanded my kids’ vocabulary from time to time and have certainly said and done things I regret. I’ve found after 15 years in this most unique of adult statuses (parenthood) that the weight of all of your decisions and actions are tremendous, and so are the ripple effects.
In reflecting on the horrors of the Aurora shooting, the word “responsibility” comes to mind here in so many ways. I don’t doubt that the perpetrator of the Aurora shootings will be held responsible for his actions, but perhaps discussion that needs to happen in this country is how we as parents are held responsible for our children.
It’s a conversation I’m going to have tonight at the dinner table. Right after I hold my kids really tight.
As a mom, I resent the implication that the responsibility of a tragedy of this magnitude be placed on these poor parents’ shoulders. We have all made decisions concerning our children that others might judge us for, but we alone know what works best for our families. None of us are perfect parents. None of us deserve to have our children shot or injured because we took them to a movie. His piece comes off like victim-blaming.
That said I’m not sure if this movie is appropriate for young kids. Parents, your thoughts in the comments below:
Aw, this was a really nice post. Taking the time and actual effort to create a top notch article… but what can I say… I procrastinate a whole lot and never manage to get nearly anything done.
Oh stop!!
How on earth can anyone blame a parent for being out late at a theater with their kid?? We live in a free country and as long as those parents aren’t breaking the law or putting themselves and their kids in obvious danger no one should even question it.
It sounds to me that this Homeland Security rep just wants to brainwash people into getting used to a freedom-less society. Fear mongering at its best!!!!
Yes the movie is not suitable for young kids. I tried to make this point that it is the parents “responsibilty” to keep their children safe, and set good examples of right and wrong. And people thought I was cold hearted when I stated the mother took her children to a no swimming area of a lake that was closed to swimmers and her 12 yr old daughter accidently drowned. Why would a mother take her child there and permit this? Yes it was the mothers responsibility and choice and the daughter paid with her life because of it. One would never imagine this type of horrific act could play out in a movie theater, so no matter what time it is, are we safe anywhere anytime these days?
Sorry Amy, but Rich Cooper is right on the money. While none of these parents pulled the trigger or even imagined that such a horrific thing could happen to them at a movie theater, they displayed a terrible level of selfishness by bringing the kids there in first place. Children that young would have no memory of the experience (the movie premier); therefore the parents were only indulging themselves by bringing the kids out at such a late hour. If they really wanted to see the movie, they could have waited until the next day to see it during the daytime or early evening. Children that age should have been securely in bed at that hour.
Parenting demands a certain amount of sacrifice of your own needs and wants for the benefit of the kids. I certainly wouldn’t condemn these parents to hell for bringing their kids to that movie, and my prayers are with them. But I think they made a poor choice in doing so.
Way to blame the victims. WTF does the time of the movie have to do with anything? This tragedy could have happened at any time of the day, so obviously the criticism is completely invalid. What are parents supposed to do to keep their kids safe? Wrap them in bubble wrap and never let them leave the house lest something “might” happen? Sure, the parents are going to feel responsible, but the fact is that while, yes, they made a decision to let their kids go to a movie, they are in no way responsible for the tragedy that may have befallen their children in this event.