In my past, I would simply be numb to these things by now. Today, it scares the crap out of me more so every time I hear about these situations. I have 1 kid going into 3rd grade and another going into Kinder. I really really don't want to have to wonder if they're going to make it home alive every day. It's not like this is happening commonly in inner city schools. It's the suburbs...such as where I live. I'm not in paralyzed fear for their lives or anything like that. If anything, we're the parents that are trying to teach them to go out and be kids instead of keeping the reigns too tight. Still, it does weigh on me.
It's funny how the end of the school year seems to bring an uptick in school shootings. I wonder why this is. Do the shooters want to get finals out of the way first? Are they hoping to have the summer for the whole thing to blow over so classmates aren't so mad at them? Or, are they just procrastinating all year and then realize they've almost run out of time to shoot up the school? It seems to me shooting up a school is a decision to end life as you know it, and schedules shouldn't matter too much. If anything, do it at the beginning of the school year so you don't have as much homework to do.
JV, it's almost as if your account was hijacked, but if that's really you posting that question: Anyone working in K-12 or higher ed. knows that the most stressful time of the year, by far, is the end of the year, for whatever reason. I myself lost a high-school friend and classmate who killed himself in May of our graduation year when he didn't have the needed credits to graduate on time. It was senseless and horrible, because he could have walked with everyone and simply taken some units in a summer program. And what I see at the modern university is sometimes pretty crazy in April and May. A lot of otherwise sane kids lose their marbles for a while, based on lack of sleep and (perceived) pressure to perform.
Sorry to hear about your friend. This is the problem IMO . . .we don't teach our kids deal with stress well The issue is we apply social pressure for things that should not be so . . . dire. It is important to graduate on time .. . but 1. it is *NOT* the end of the world 2. it is correctable 3. the pressure and shame of it should push you to not do what ever error cause the issue in the first place instead we feel it is hopeless and unrecoverable. We seem to make it bigger than it is . . . again . . .sorry about your friend. Wish they had been able to see it was not as bad as they thought. Rocket River
Not trolling (not intentionally, at least). I see the profile of the high school killer as a disaffected youth who has been obsessing on this fantasy for many months before taking the leap. It'd seem strange that this person would be reacting to the stress of exams or college admissions or a summer breakup. Killing rampages that often culminate in suicides (though this particular incident isn't such a big one, it seems) is a much bigger stressor than those things. It just seems so pedestrian to say stress is the catalyst.
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I see. http://news.yahoo.com/police-shooter-used-rifle-ore-school-shooting-192306306.html I wonder if the Bolded is a typo or the two are related [i.e. same family] or am i misreading Rocket River Thought It would read: They were in the process of notifying the families of the gunman and student who was killed. not to be a Grammer Hammer or anything
Nice of you to say, RR. It was a long time ago, but he was a really kind soul to everyone but himself. Shot himself with his dad's handgun after school. And JV, I hear you when it comes to someone diabolically planning something for a long time. It is hard to believe a bad term paper grade would ignite them to action. That said, I was surprised to find that even VA. Tech shooting, with all that guy's planning, happened in mid-April.
Kind of off topic, but this thought crossed my mind today and I was hoping to share it with you guys to see your opinions.. Do you guys see these increased shootings and school reports of violence as maybe the new attitude we seem to have instilled in our students: BULLYING IS BAD, REPORT BULLYING, NO TOLERANCE ON HAZING. I remember growing up in middle school, I was bullied badly in the 6th grade by some upperclassmen, but when I went home to tell my parents (and I know, I was blessed to have parents that were actually home to teach me life lessons instead of strayed away at work), they didn't report it to the school, or tell me to run away from the guy. They taught me to face it and deal with it (not in a violent manner). Basically, what I'm trying to say is that the new generation of kids IMO are not equipped to deal with bullying, stress, and problems that face kids in the transitioning stage of becoming adults. Partly due to parents not being home anymore, partly due to the overall attitude we seem to have against hazing. At my college, some frat kids got criminal charges for making one of their pledges do push ups... PUSH UPS. Anyways, that was a little side tracking there by me. Y'alls thoughts?
^ Great point actually. Add in some prescription meds & countless hours of violent shooting games/movies without any parental interaction, and you yield a sad sad individual. For instance, the rich kid in California that just went on his rampage. The kid had everything paved for him. Im sure his parents spent no time with him (hence the reason why he longed for a female companion so bad) and that took a toll on him.
Blame social media as well. We are both more connected and less connected than ever. Instead of close friendships and family time it's 10,000 friends on Facebook. I think someone on this board pointed out that bullying used to stop when you got home now it follows you on Facebook etc. How many cases have their been of kids committing suicide over cyber bullying?
It's funny how school shootings can only inspire discussion for 2 pages in a thread now a days. Just more of the norm.
What a shock, another shooting. Now do what the establishment wants you to do and go buy even more guns...lol Stop talking about how the media covers shootings, every day there are people being killed. The facts are they only cover the big shootings so you fear the government is coming for your guns so you buy more of them. They also want you to be against any gun regulation because regulation means a smaller market of people guns can be sold to. Wake up, follow the money trail. NRA does not rep you, they rep gun manufactueres.
