Kelly Clarkson Addresses Santa Fe School Shooting at Billboard Music Awards: ‘We Need to Do Better’
![[WATCH] Kelly Clarkson on Santa Fe Shooting — Billboard Music Awards](https://tvline.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/img_0035.png?w=620&h=420&crop=1)
Host Kelly Clarkson opened Sunday’s Billboard Music Awards by addressing Friday’s school shooting in her home state of Texas.
The Voice coach tried (but failed) to fight back tears as she spoke of the tragedy at Santa Fe High School, which left 10 dead and 10 others wounded.
“Tonight they wanted me to say that, obviously we’re going to pray for the victims and pray for their families, but they also wanted me to do a moment of silence,” Clarkson said. “And I’m so sick of moments of silence. It’s not working… So why don’t we not do a moment of silence? Why don’t we do a moment of action? A moment of change?
“Mommies and daddies should be able to send their kids to school, to church, to movie theaters, to clubs… You should be able to live your life without that kind of fear,” she continued. “We need to do better. People are failing our children… I have four children, [and] I cannot imagine getting that phone call or getting that knock on the door.”
Watch Clarkson’s opening message in full below:
Our hearts go out to all the victims in the Santa Fe community and their families. ❤️ pic.twitter.com/7ejLAd8nKk
— Billboard Music Awards (@BBMAs) May 21, 2018
All those thoughts and prayers haven’t done anything. When are people going to realize that?
But speeches do something? When are people going to realize what?
Please tell me how to stop someone from doing evil.
How do you legislate people from doing harm to others.
We have a lot of gun laws in this country, we have laws against murdering- why don’t they work?
We cannot un-invent the gun. Britain has strict laws about guns,
so what do people do to harm others – they use acid attacks, knives and automobiles to it.
I wish I had the answers but more laws just put a pretty bow on it for politicians to say they’ve done something.
We have a lot of gun laws that aren’t tough enough. Acid attacks, knives and cars don’t kill 10 people at once. But keep saying it’s the laws.
That’s exactly my point. No law is going to stop evil or crazy.
If someone is intent on doing harm – how can you stop that?
Your wrong about guns they don’t kill people behind them do. We need more kid control, we need God back in the homes, more children in churches, God back in school and government. Parents have lost control of their children! Where is mom and where is dad? Why aren’t they teaching their children , about murder, hurt and pain. Why aren’t these kids feeling more love than pain. God help us help our families in this world of violence. Please take time for your children, teach then love and compassion. It’s time to take your children back from this world and make them whole again, they are running on empty. They need a home with two parents, one at home , another working. What is this world for if not of love. Give God back to your children.
why do we have a culture of violence in the US? Why are children killing children! Why is it white boys? Why do we have an increase in child suicide? Why are so many children on pyschotriophic drugs? What happened to the family? What happened to empathy? What happened to our moral compass? Our society is decaying and it starts with our youth. We really need to do some soul searching regarding our society!
This is only my answer to your question, just my opinion. These things exist because sometime in the late 80s/early 90s parents developed the everyone gets a trophy philosophy preventing their kids from learning how to lose gracefully and instead giving them an unrealistic sense of entitlement. This coincided with the release of a slew of violent computer games to further desensitize growing minds. Throw in social media and rap “music” and we are looking at the most callous, self-absorbed generation in history.
The mom of a girl that died thinks her daughter was targeted because she rejected the boy’s advances. If true, if that was his motivation to kill, you’re right. Too many youngsters have grown up coddled and don’t know healthy ways to deal with disappointment and failure. They wouldn’t need therapy goats and things at colleges if so.
Therapy goat?
People play video games and listen to rap “music” all around the world, but they don’t go shooting their classmates. The big issue is obviously the availability of guns. If people didn’t own guns, none of these attacks would have happened.
They also don’t hav3 the kind of access to guns that American teens have
People in the middle east strap suicide bombs to their women and children and send them into markets and mosques. You are comparing apples to oranges. In other foreign areas [Europe/Asia] kids aren’t raised in the atmosphere of approval and permissiveness that prevails in America. They are raised with more discipline and greater character building. American kids are not taught honor and ethics.
Spot on. Americans chase success and short change their kids in guidance and building morals.
I agree with the “trophy philosophy ” part of your argument (nice name for it BTW) but I very much disagree with computer games being the problem. Besides, in that particular case the fault is more with the parents who let the children play those games even though they are rated for a mature audience. Raise your kids right and chances of them becoming killers are greatly decreased. Also, social media, Facebook, Instagram, the whole Internet anonymity is a large part of it as well, again often because kids are not raised right.
Of course, none of this would have such violent and deadly results if americans wouldnt value their gun rights more than their childrens lives.
IMO Negligent parents are as much or more to blame. Jail every parent whose child does something like this.
This is just a bogus cop out. Every other country has the same exact issues and their youth doesn’t shoot up their schools. Maybe it’s our rape culture because if you haven’t noticed it’s mostly boys doing this. Maybe fathers need to step up instead of stepping out. I highly effing doubt a partcipation trophy is what causes all of this. It’s the fact that we let boys get away with rape. We let them get away with assault. We tell them to “man up”. I just saw a bumper sticker on a grown mans truck that said “don’t piss me off, I have guns and know how to use them”. So yeah I’d say that mentality is the problem. Oh and people not locking their effing guns up.
Also, violent crime as a whole is significantly down from 70’s, 80’s, 90’s, so clearly we are doing something right with the youth.
Violent crime in the 70s, 80s & 90s wasn’t being perpetrated by middle and high school kids. Not the same thing at all.
It was a beautiful and moving speech!!
Trump has put forward the right way, the only way, to “do better.” Stop having these insane defender-free “gun free school zones,” which are a blatant invitation to slaughter.
“Here,” said Bill Clinton: “We have gathered all of our children together and we PROMISE that no one will be prepared or equipped to defend them. Just come on in and kill as many as you want.”
Allow teachers and other school personnel to be armed. Polling has shown that upwards of 15% would carry guns if they could. That is FAR better protection than one armed police “resource officer” in each school can provide and far less expense, with NO necessary expense for the schools. Teachers will buy and carry their own guns if we let them.
So what is Clarkson ripping on Trump for? He has articulated the solution. Where most conservatives are just advocating stupid things like police officers in schools Trump has made the fundamental point that it is NUMBERS that matter, and only allowing adults in the schools to be armed can provide those numbers.
It shouldn’t just be school personnel either, not just teachers, janitors, bus drivers, administrators, but parents, deliverymen, and any other adults who are otherwise allowed to carry guns should be allowed to carry in the schools. If any of these people wanted to slaughter children, laws against their carrying a gun will not stop them!
Everyone can understand this, right? That gun laws only stop the law abiding? Barring parents from carrying guns when they visit campus will only disarm those parents who would defend the children. If any parent wants to kill children, laws will not stop him! Only armed defenders can stop him.
And this is what we see. Bill Clinton and the Democrats disarmed all the defenders and the only armed people are the occasional attackers. Crazy. Evil. And a violation of this nation’s most fundamental civil rights. Who ever thought that having civil rights free zones was a good idea? It’s INSANE, as well as unconstitutional. Stop violating civil rights and school shootings will be much diminished.
Oh ffs Alec, this is not the place to swing your red hat around. It’s an entertainment site.
Only a lunatic would support the notion that the solution to gun violence is MORE guns. Such incredible, stubborn rubbish. Always looking for excuses and roundabout ways to justify one’s one self-righteousness, never is it about the topic itself.