Once again, a school, a shooter....and we do the drill yet again.....

[pookybean]

We have a system to report unhappy, angry, lonely, "off" students, in an effort to catch an issue before it becomes deadly.

I agree with reporting these kids because then maybe they will get some of the mental health or social supports the need, but what about the bullies that torture some of them daily?

I find a lot of schools (my dd's included) talk a lot about kindness, inclusion and no tolerance... yet tolerate quite a bit before anything gets done, if at all.

 

[TraderStitch]

Gun activists would rather have our schools look like prisons with armed guards out of a futuristic dystopian 1980s movie (a la Class of 1999) rather than actually do anything about ownership.

 

[TLSnell1981]

One of the reasons I did not mind lockdown for Covid even one bit - I never had to worry about my kid getting shot when he was just at the kitchen table.

This country sucks in so many ways.

COVID worsened mental illness...many social issues and drug problems IT only created more potential for the instances IMO

There are trends in our Country that I don't like but NOPE it doesn't SUCK. I can think of many worse places to live.

 

[Allison]

This is the first time I'm hearing about this. Im on social media quite a bit, and yet the first time was when I log onto the dis.

Is it so common that we don't even give (ineffective) thoughts and prayers anymore?

Yes.

 

[TAX GUY]

Gun activists would rather have our schools look like prisons with armed guards out of a futuristic dystopian 1980s movie (a la Class of 1999) rather than actually do anything about ownership.

Is that right? It's the gun activists that are the problem and holding back or preventing the solutions the non gun activists have presented for a solution?

Comments like that are what will send this thread off the rails and get locked down. Seeing that you're new here, you probably aren't very familiar with the DIS rules and how strict they are with certain topics (although yours are in line with many views of members here, so maybe it'll be ok)

 

[soccerdad72]

People will bring up mental health needs (which is true), but then look the other way when bills get voted down that would help fund that mental health care (which is not affordable for many folks).

 

[ronandannette]

...I also don't understand why any other type of "mass killing" never get the same attention or discussion? There was one recently that was outside the US, and didn't involve a gun (no AR or any other type of firearm). It was posted here but only had a handful of replies. No hate, no anger, no cries of government needing to do more, nothing. Why? Are only certain tragedies worthy of discussion and outcry?

I'm sure I'll get blasted for this, so be it.


Edit to add: it was a mass stabbing in early September in Saskatchewan, Canada.

That discussion was:
a) very carefully parsed to stay within board guidelines;
b) expressive of shock and deep national grief (hardly the “nothing” you refer to); and
c) involved issues of a highly dangerous recidivist criminal from a specific racial group perpetrating targeted violence on members of his own community. Due to the timing (near our period of National Truth and Reconciliation observance), sensitivity and decency limited a robust debate.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Let’s not forget there was another horrific shooting in a hospital several days back. Killed were a nurse and a social worker. Killer was a felon with an ankle bracelet on and was hitting his girlfriend who had just given birth to his child over the head with his gun repeatedly. Why was he out? Where did he get the gun? Why was he able to bring a gun into the hospital?

 

[Pea-n-Me]

The disparaging of ’thoughts and prayers’ on these threads really sickens me.

Maybe that’s also part of the problem, too, that we’ve gotten away from that, as well.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Just in: The guy who mowed people down with his car killing six last year in the Christmas parade in Wisconsin was just found guilty. Judge was afraid of him due to his bizarre and unsettling behavior in the courtroom. Represented himself. Could he have been helped prior to this incident happening? We have an awful lot of angry and unstable people among us right now!

 

[sam_gordon]

We have an awful lot of angry and unstable people among us right now!

Solve THIS problem and we may get somewhere.

 

[WDWEPCOT]

I'd look into the genocide and ethnic cleansings that have at the very least worsened if not outright planned on social media. Using the terms Myanmar, genocide, and Facebook in a search will give you some interesting reading. This book is on my reading list but I listened to a podcast with the author and he does a good job talking about the ills of social media. I want to be clear that I don't really "blame" social media. At the end of the day it is just a tool and you need to be smarter than the algorithm, but in order to really prevent yourself from going down that path you need to be cognizant of the dangers.

It is a complex issue and attacking only weapons or only mental health or only isolation or only social media isn't going to move the needle all that much.

Sorry but I could not pull up the book - I must be missing something here as I’m not understanding how ethnic murder is the same / similar to these shootings ? Ethnic murder has been going on for all of time and on a much larger scale / I found it very interesting that the current situation in the Middle East with some of the groups attacking America and Israel they were set up and trained by the disposed German Nazi officials from the end of WW2, This was on History Channel a couple weeks ago - amazing how history is tied together so I would be interested to read what this author is saying as I’m not making a connection here

 

[monsterkitty]

I can't imagine being so scared of my kids going to school that I didn't mind a mandatory lockdown. Has there ever been a shooting at your school? Or, in a neighboring school? I'm just trying to understand what circumstances have caused you to want your child to be locked down vs in school. It is a sad situation now in our country.

I can answer this question - yes, there has been a shooting in a neighboring school. April 20, 1999, two shooters entered a school near my school. The school was Columbine HS. Maybe you've heard of it.

One of the teachers I taught with for several years was a senior and in the library that day. You could ask her her feelings as well. A good family friend was a teacher at Columbine. He ate lunch with Dave Sanders every day, except April 20,1999. He decided to take the day off and go to the mountains with family that was in town. Ask him about the survivor's guilt.

Let's face it, the lockdown was horrible but necessary. We did return to in-person August 2020 with the option of online or in-person. Over 50% of our parents chose online because they saw what COVID did to their families as well as our community.

As a retired teacher, I see what COVID did to students from losing a parent, both parents, other family members, as well as losing time in school. But I also have seen the results of what happens when a school shooting hits a community. Both are sad situations.

 

[Dan Murphy]

I can answer this question - yes, there has been a shooting in a neighboring school. April 20, 1999, two shooters entered a school near my school. The school was Columbine HS. Maybe you've heard of it.

One of the teachers I taught with for several years was a senior and in the library that day. You could ask her her feelings as well. A good family friend was a teacher at Columbine. He ate lunch with Dave Sanders every day, except April 20,1999. He decided to take the day off and go to the mountains with family that was in town. Ask him about the survivor's guilt.

Let's face it, the lockdown was horrible but necessary. We did return to in-person August 2020 with the option of online or in-person. Over 50% of our parents chose online because they saw what COVID did to their families as well as our community.

As a retired teacher, I see what COVID did to students from losing a parent, both parents, other family members, as well as losing time in school. But I also have seen the results of what happens when a school shooting hits a community. Both are sad situations.

Not really a thumbs up, love, sad, angry emoticon from me, mk. Just a thank you for sharing such sad, sobering thoughts.

 

[GreatLakes]

Right. And I'm not disagreeing with that.
By why would social media make young people in the USA mass murderers but not in other countries?
It's probably a small factor but not the main factor.

Sorry but I could not pull up the book - I must be missing something here as I’m not understanding how ethnic murder is the same / similar to these shootings ? Ethnic murder has been going on for all of time and on a much larger scale / I found it very interesting that the current situation in the Middle East with some of the groups attacking America and Israel they were set up and trained by the disposed German Nazi officials from the end of WW2, This was on History Channel a couple weeks ago - amazing how history is tied together so I would be interested to read what this author is saying as I’m not making a connection here

See the bolded which is what I was replying to. I'd classify genocide and ethnic cleansing as "mass murder". I'm not sure social media "makes" people do it but it sure seems to play a part. Maybe here it is school shootings while it is other forms of violence elsewhere but murder is murder.

 

[Kennywood]

Did you ever wonder why there weren't mass school shootings 50 years ago? When i was in school, pickup trucks with rifle racks were in the school parking lot. A lot of times, the rifles were actually in the racks. There were kids that were loners. There were kids that were bullies. Yet you didn't hear about mass school shootings. Why?

The problem isn't the guns. Guns have been around for hundreds of years. Yet it's only in the past generation that there seems to be a problem.

The problem is the people, and I don't mean the current generation of kids in school. I'm referring to the previous generation....the parents. Many parents don't have any active involvement in the lives of their children. If they do get involved, it's to the extent that "Little Johnny couldn't possibly be causing problems! It must be the school's fault!" The previous generation wants to be their child's friend rather than a parent. There's little discipline and few, if any, consequences.

Do you want to take REAL action about school shootings? Then the parents of any child found using a weapon should be equally charged with the crime. If parents realized that they actually had to take responsibility for their children...and their weapons....there would be a drastic reduction in shooting.

Due to the current situation, I do support the OPTION of teachers being armed. But it should have NEVER come to that point. Teachers should be teaching....period. They're not supposed to be raising people's children, simply because the parents aren't willing to take responsibility and do their jobs. We expect teachers to do more and more, while we allow parents to get away with doing less and less.

Until the previous generation is made to take responsibility for their children, not much will change.

 

[CdnCarrie]

The problem is the people, and I don't mean the current generation of kids in school. I'm referring to the previous generation....the parents. Many parents don't have any active involvement in the lives of their children. If they do get involved, it's to the extent that "Little Johnny couldn't possibly be causing problems! It must be the school's fault!" The previous generation wants to be their child's friend rather than a parent. There's little discipline and few, if any, consequences.

Seriously. You're blaming a whole generation of parents. That's just awful.

 

[Kennywood]

Then from whom are the children learning....or NOT learning....values?

 

[prairie_girl]

I sometimes feel the same way, that I'm afraid for my kids to be at school, but then I think about all the other places they could just as easily get shot.
Movie theater, grocery store, church, walmart, hospital/medical office, walking or running along the greenway, concert, baggage claim area of airport, shopping mall, food court, sporting event, and on and on and on. Really at least the schools have drills and try to prepare the best they can, some of the other venues almost seem like more likely or more dangerous targets. Anyway, that's how I rationalize that it's okay to go to school, because there are so many other places to get shot, why should I assume it will be at school.

This is so gd bleak and I’m so sorry that you feel this way. I can’t imagine how hard it must be to send your child out the door every day.

 

[Aladora]

The disparaging of ’thoughts and prayers’ on these threads really sickens me.

Maybe that’s also part of the problem, too, that we’ve gotten away from that, as well.

I suspect the reason people are "disparaging" thoughts and prayers is that at the end of the day, T&P do nothing to stop what is happening. In my mind, it is similar to someone being diagnosed with cancer and relying on the power of positive thought to get rid of it. And I say that as someone who was diagnosed with cancer and who definitely did not rely on positive thoughts alone to cure me.

If prayer helps you then by all means, go for it! But we should not be under the illusion that it is a solution to the problem in any way.