Murder to memes: The scroll that hardens Hearts

‍ ‍Photo by Createasea on Unsplash

I was in third grade when President Kennedy was assassinated. What I remember most is the quiet. Teachers talked and hushed voices and sent us home. No one knew why. As we walked home, whole neighborhoods seemed silent. I had never seen adults cry before, and it unsettled me in a way I can still feel. Their silence was heavier than any words. A few years later, in 1968, I was in eighth grade, flying to California when Martin Luther King Jr. was shot. No announcement came over the airplane speaker.

An eerie stillness pervaded the entire Los Angeles international airport. We only learned of it when we climbed into a Taxi and heard it on the radio. Even then it was delivered in a voice that carried weight, grief and reverence.

Now I fear for my grandchildren in a world where tragedy and entertainment blur together in a single scroll. When, in a split second a child can witness the cold-blooded murder of a human being and in the next instant be laughing at a lighthearted TikTok or clever meme.

That shift is too sudden, too unnatural. We were not created to take in horror and humor side-by-side, as though they carry the same weight. Our minds and our souls were never meant to work that way.

What disturbs me most is how easily this constant rhythm of scrolling makes us calloused. The more we consume, the less we feel. Outrage dulls. Compassion weakens. Yet there is still a voice with each of us that says, this is wrong. We can choose to listen. We can turn off the noise. We can look away, refusing to let our attention – and our hearts – become numb.

I want the next generation to hear and hold onto that inner voice. To guard their minds and souls against hardening. Because this world does not need more indifference–it needs tenderness, compassion, and people who still have the courage to care deeply.

Remember the words of my generation: Teach Your Children Well