another damn school shooting. The culprit's friends knew all about it but, of course, thought it was a joke. Supposedly, the friends patted him down before school today to make sure he wasn't carrying but he still managed to sneak the gun in(probably in his backpack). And, once again, we have another president speak out about how terrible it is with little else calling the person a coward. This coward was the butt of all jokes. Everyone thought this guy shrugged off every joke anyone ever made to or about him. Boy, were they ever wrong! He didn't even care who he shot...he just came out shooting. As far as he was concerned, they all made him the butt of the jokes so why should he discriminate in who he shoots? I, for one, am getting sick and tired of this crap. Is this what America has come to stand for? Freedom to take guns and kill people at school. There was a time when school was considered safe. Whatever security they have at school...it is not good enough by today's standards. Every school needs metal detectors...not just a few. Any time someone talks about bringing a gun to school to anyone(even a best friend), that person needs to speak up. It obviously is not a joke when someone says something like that. Even if it is a joke, why take a chance. Now, this guy's best friend has to live with the fact that he knew beforehand, said nothing, and did nothing. Healthy conscience? I think not. Good luck shaking that one off your conscience, best friend. You sure weren't a best friend to those students who got shot. So, what's it going to take? How many people have to die before we start treating school like a prison? I mean...shouldn't it be treated like a prison in some regards? You can't trust anyone. Anyone can do anything to anyone in school. The least we can do is not let them in the door with the gun and, if metal detectors were used, it may be a hassle and a pain or whatever but it would save lives. Of course, security guards or cops would be needed to run the damn things. Additional personnel and money would be needed. But, look at the down side of not doing it. Continued shootings? I know...it is not the full answer. But, it is a start and it is better than what is done now in most places which is to do nothing. I drive by a high school on my way to work every day. I see cop cars out in front but I know they don't have metal detectors. Little Billy is not going to be deterred by the presence of law enforcement. It's not like their searching people. Hell, the cop may even be in the line of fire if he's just showing his presence. Apparently, a guard was in the line of fire in this latest shooting. So, what is America going to do about this crap? Sure, the president condemned it. He wouldn't be very presidential if he didn't. But, we all know that means zippo. How many times do we have to go through this before something is done about it? Don't sit there and tell me we are doing something about it. The hype will die down until next time at which another school shooting will occur. This next time it may be worse. This next time you may know somebody. This next time it could be your children in the line of fire. We cannot trust kids these days. We cannot wait for the signs, do nothing, and then talk about how it was too late and...err...we did nothing to stop this. NO MORE. It doesn't help that the media glamourizes violence. I'm sure we will not hear the end about this shooting. Hell, I hear the word Columbine about every other day. Where has the world come to when a student finds the answer to his problems in a gun? Have a problem....kill it? That might as well be America's motto. The worst thing I ever did in high school is misconstrue what high school was all about? I thought it was a place to go and get "high"...hence the words "high" school. A great place to learn NOT. And, that's what we did because noone did a damn thing about it to stop us. But, never...ever did any one of us even consider bringing a gun to school. EVER. Nowadays, kids just turn their consciences off. Where is that switch? Someone should be checking these kids' scalps for the numbers of the beast. This is ridiculous. Personal Commentary by Surfguy ------------------
When is the media going to realize all they are doing is glamorizing these shootings? All they want is some attention and we are giving them plenty of it!! And no, metal detectors are not going to solve the problem ... at least the mass shootings. ------------------ Nice guys finish last ... and im surely not going to finish last!
Yup, it's the media's fault. ------------------ www.swirve.com...The reason Al Gore invented the internet.
Was there ever really such a time? I mean, the worst school violence I know of took place in 1927 (38 people killed by gunfire and home-made bombs). When I was growing up, violence in inner city schools was a topic that got lots of press. And we could point out that though the attention paid to recent school violence has been higher than in the past, the actual amount of teen violence has gone down. It's sort of like the press attention to airplane disasters. If we go by the coverage alone, planes are falling out of the sky at every turn. In real life, planes are still a very safe way to travel. I'm not trying to downplay the tragedy of what happened today. It's unfortunate when anyone resorts to violence to attempt to solve their problems. It's even more unfortunate when people lose their lives because of such violence. My question was more toward the idea that schools were ever really "safe" and whether we need to treat schools like prisons in order to prevent what are still rare incidents of gun violence (and would putting metal detectors up actually solve the problem. In at least two of the recent cases, having metal detectors at the school would've made no difference. The Columbine shooters began their gun battle before even entering the school. Certainly a metal detector wouldn't have stopped them. The Jonesboro boys pulled the fire alarm and fired at students and teachers as they exited the school. I don't know what the answer is, I'm just noting some potential problems with metal detectors). ------------------ Houston Sports Board The Anti-Bud Adams Page
What ever happened to "meet me behind the band hall after school 'cause I'm gonna kick your ass."?! I graduated in '86 in a small town that actually allowed students to drive their trucks with their hunting rifles in the back window. No one ever pulled a gun on someone much less use it. They would just simply announce to you (and everybody else) that they were going to beat the hell out of you after school. I'll never blame that media as the sole reason for violent kids. I grew up watching action and horror flicks. I never had a problem separating reality from fantasy. For that reason, I have a hard time believing that TV and music causes kids to do what they do. There are too many factors involved to simply blame the media. Is the media responsible for the easy access to guns? Why don't the parents ever take as much heat as the media does? Usually there are warning signs that lead up to these tragedies. The kids best friend was aware. Was the parents? How about the teachers? Were they not aware of this kid's problems? Being picked on is not justification for death. I was a skinny runt who avoided all sports while in school. I was a band geek with a cross-section of friends. I was picked on a lot from grades 7-10. Did I ever have a desire to kill any of them? No. I learned to talk my way out of things. I focused on my music to the point to where I was the best trumpet player in our district and one of the best in our region. I had solos at school performances and at football games. It got to the point to where I was actually know for something. I was never considered ultra cool, but I became cool enough to where I had jock friends, honor student friends, band friends, popular friends, etc. Kids will always be picked on. That has been and always will be the same. There will always be bullies. There will always be geeks and runts. What has to change is how these kids deal with this pressure. "Let's see, should I better myself and prove in the long run that I am not what they say? Nah. I'll just kill 'em all!" What a cop-out. What a pathetic act of revenge. And for it to be indicriminate is even more pathetic. Some innocent people had their lives changed for the worse because some other guy picked on some kid. I have no answer to this mess. I have no clue what changed in the mindset of your average teenager. This is a generation gap of the worst kind. I simply cannot relate..... ------------------
maybe what has to change is that attitude of picking on kids for any reason is acceptable behavior. ------------------
I think it's the fact that it's moved from the inner-city to the suburbs. ------------------ www.swirve.com...The reason Al Gore invented the internet.
Yup, 100% their fault! As a matter of fact, its their fault because there is no world peace or not a solution to world hunger. ------------------ Nice guys finish last ... and im surely not going to finish last!
Good luck! That's my point exactly. While it is not nice to pick on people, it has always been like that. You can't stop that. What you have to do is teach kids to deal with it, to rise above it. Use it to your advantage. Be smarter than the other guy. Work out and become stronger than that guy. Be a better athlete than that guy. Kids need to know how to deal with the bully because the bully exists in all facets of life. Learning to deal with assholes makes one a better, stronger person. Being a new wave kid in a school full of rednecks was not always easy. I can't imagine going to a school where I had absolutely no way to be expressive. Many of us out there in all towns and cities made it a point to be different, even if it meant having to deal with the close-minded and the mentally weak. There is no way on Earth to make people stop making fun of what's different, while at the same time it would be impossible to stop kids from wanting to be different. That's the way it has always been. All that has changed is how the 'underdog' deals with his criticism. ------------------
Jeremy spoke today. oh man, will we ever get past this? Its happening too much. oh man, my heart is so tired... ------------------ Everything you do, effects everything that is.
I wonder if guns were less acessible this kinf of stuff would happen? It doesn't happen in countries where guns are banned. Of course, we don't have the sense to do something that intelligent in this country. DaDakota ------------------ Go Jazz * http://bbs.clutchcity.net/ubb/Forum3/HTML/011403.html
It doesn't happen in other countries with less restrictive gun laws, either. An outright gun ban would most certainly be seen as unconstitutional. You'd have to get enough support for an actual repeal of the 2nd Amendment to get a gun ban through (and who knows if it would actually work. Banning things doesn't make them disappear). ------------------ Houston Sports Board The Anti-Bud Adams Page
Yeah, just look at our war on some drugs. ------------------ Everything you do, effects everything that is. [This message has been edited by mc mark (edited March 06, 2001).]
mrpaige, It does not at first, but it is a step in the right direction. I am not for a total ban, but I would like to see some serious gun controls enacted. Make Handguns and semi automatic weapons illegal. Install a 5 day waiting period. Serious background checks etc..etc. OH, and I don't think you can name another country that has gun laws as lenient as the US. Pathetic and shortsighted, but most of all sensless. DaDakota ------------------ Go Jazz * http://bbs.clutchcity.net/ubb/Forum3/HTML/011403.html
Yeah, I know, off topic. Let's stay on topic. Two kids died today! ------------------ Everything you do, effects everything that is.
mc Mark, Yes tragic, but they died because guns are too easily acquired. Very much on topic. DaDakota ------------------ Go Jazz * http://bbs.clutchcity.net/ubb/Forum3/HTML/011403.html
D I was talking about myself and my own post(don't type fast enough). All I can say to what you've said tonight is, YES YES and Yesth! Anything that holds more than six in the cylinder, or one in the chamber needs to be blasted (pun intended) off the planet! ------------------ Everything you do, effects everything that is.
Switzerland and Israel to name two. Both have gun laws that are less restrictive than in the U.S. Neither has a crime rate or gun-murder rate anywhere near as high as the U.S. ------------------ Houston Sports Board The Anti-Bud Adams Page
Mr Paige what do you think the answer or solution might be? Why are there more deaths in America? Are you saying suicide plays a large part in the numbers? Nice take in the gun control thread btw. ------------------ Everything you do, effects everything that is.
Suicide isn't the difference in the numbers. The US has a huge lead in homicides over other industrialized nations (in 1994, it was about 9.0 per 100,000, about 2/3 of which were gun-related. That's taking out suicide altogether.) I don't know what the answer is. I just know that there are many ways in which Americans are very different than other countries. We have different attitudes toward many things and approach things a lot differently. So what's good for Great Britain and France may not be good for the U.S. (By the same token, what's good for Switzerland or Israel may not be good for us, either). I'm just saying that it's easy to sit back and say, "Get rid of the guns and everything will be great", but we don't really know if that would be the case or not. There are a good many things that work well everywhere else and don't work for crap in the U.S. ------------------ Houston Sports Board The Anti-Bud Adams Page [This message has been edited by mrpaige (edited March 06, 2001).]
