Our focus should be on self-control

I am so very tired of hearing nonstop talk about gun control. Where is the talk about self-control? Where is the talk about teaching children and teens how to control their impulses and anger? It bothers me that so much emphasis is placed on guns and so little emphasis placed on the fact that the individuals who perform these heinous murders had absolutely no self- control. They had no regard for anybody or anything other than their own desire to harm, maim or kill.

As a parent, I have taught my children that the world does not revolve around them or their desires. I have taught my children that actions (both good and bad) have consequences. My children know that just because they are mad or disappointed they do not have the right to take that anger out on others. When parents no longer discipline or teach their children these basic values and responsibilities bad things happen.

It is time for us all to go back to parenting class, to recognize that our children need to be taught basic rules of acceptable behavior. Let's stop putting the blame on an inanimate object and put the blame on the individual.

Paulet Latlip
Marysville