*Please Note*
As of July 2015 many photos have been intentionally removed.

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Random Thoughts For Not So Random Violence(Redux)

Ho Hum.
Another year, another school shooting. Another teen aged murderer. Another group of students killed.
Another community in mourning. Another press conference leaving more questions then answers in the wake.

A few of my opinions on things.....
1. Random? I think not. There are solar eclipse events that only occur every few dozen years, and we refer to them as "regular" or "scheduled" These shootings, meanwhile, seem to come around at least twice every few months.
2. I agree with Chris. Sometimes people are in fact, just crazy.
(interesting to note, this video is 13 years old!!!!)

..........HOWEVER, with this now a part of our culture in America, is there not some kind of script for this? With all the marvels of science and modern day crime technology, can't we spot these events ahead of time?
C'mon.....Lonely kid or kids.
               Some form of music or video game influence.
               Bullies are involved, either as victims or perpetrators.
               A school building/campus/cafeteria.
               Warning signs on Facebook, Twitter, or other social media.
               Massed education. Either public or private.        
               Firearms, and the pros and cons thereof.
Once it has been established that such events are a regular occurrence, and it is also decided they are undesirable, I believe blame can/should be assigned. Don't care for the word blame? Fine. Call it responsibility. I blame the family for a lack of involved parenting. I blame the school. Not any one specific school, but the entire concept of herding hundreds of kids into a building and trying to educate them equally. To say NOTHING of keeping them safe. The simple math of it all spells out disaster. Someone is going to get missed. Someone will not be educated. Someone will not be reached. And sometimes that someone will bring a loaded gun into the building and finally crack. Yes, maybe the problems are at home. Maybe dad is a drunk and mom is a whore. Those two wonderful parents send their kids off on the bus each morning and expect, if not demand, that the magic school will teach their kids everything from table manners to math, sportsmanship and sex.
All these things have been taught in the home, or in small communities throughout the history of our country. Not in some complex that stretches over several acres and houses 1200 students at a time, and was architecturally designed like a prison.
As for the guns.... Ya know what's funny to me? Guess where there is never a gun fight or mass shooting.
At a gun show. With the tables full of everything from handguns to hand grenades and all manner of oddly dressed people, a shot in anger is never fired. Therefore, the presence of a gun does not equal the presence of violence.
Facebook, music/movies and social media have replaced a social life for students and families alike. Everyone needs to look up from their phone, turn down the ipod and talk a bit more. This goes for teachers, parents, students and bloggers. If nothing else, you just might notice danger coming at you before it's too late.
Yes, this kid was crazy. That's easy.
Why was he crazy?...... Chew on that one for a while. I don't think the answer is very abstract at all.

2 comments:

KHouse said...

*Pardon the profanity Mrs. Smith.*
I am amazed, every day, at how prescription drugs are thought to be the remedy yet have increased the amount of incidents of school violence. Your kid is "depressed"? Give 'em Prozac. Feelin' down? A dose of Xanax for you. Yet clearly, prescription drugs have more warnings than benefits. Funny how the "warning" for some Rx drugs is an "increased risk of suicide. Wait...aren't you trying to prevent that from happening? A student of mine had been cutting. She's on some of these so called meds and sees the counselor regularly. She would steal our paperclips and thumb tacks to use as her tool. One day, after all the counseling and nonsense only intensified the problem, I just said to her, "Do you think you're making yourself prettier by doing this? Do you actually think other kids are going to like you more because you have marks on your arm?" Guess what? She stopped. DUH!! We perpetuate so many of these problems because we don't want to "harm their egos". Bullshit. Give kids boundaries, teach them right and wrong and tell them they've fucked up, in love, while giving them a chance to redeem themselves and, bam, no more shootings. It's not brain surgery people...

All Rights Reserved said...

I have to concur, quite honestly, with every thing that has been stated above. I would love to disagree but I just can't.

I understand that social media is its own worst nightmare. I understand that responsibility to use these tools in an appropriate manner is not enforceable unless all parties ACTUALLY pay attention to the goings on around them.

We live in a society where we promote "Everyone wins"! Well, f* that, everyone doesn't win. There are losers, there are winners, there are millionares, there are prisoners, there are good guys and there are bad guys and sometimes, HOLD YOUR BREATH, You WON'T Win that athletic game so KEEP SCORE!

It sickens me the way we cater to the "PC" of each emotion, each event, each and every second of the day because, GOD FORBID, we offend! And then we act freakin suprised when Little Johnny goes ape sh*t and Little Jane cuts herself!

"OMG, where did I go wrong", we ask? Because we are raising a NATION OF P*SSIES! They know no boundaries, suffer no consequence and have more labels and medications at their disposal and DR's (dare I say) who are quick to shuffle these kids in and out of catatonic states just to say "they helped".

It takes a village so I've heard; well people, wake the hell up and look around because we are failing our youth at a rapid pace!