Thursday, October 11, 2007
School Violence
Another school shooting took place Wednesday in Chicago. Everyday it seems like CNN is reporting on violence happening in our schools. Everyone always seems so surprised. It's always a similar story. A kid is repeatedly bullied, nobody comes to their rescue, and finally they snap. What is so shocking about that? How many times do you kick a dog before it bites you? Now don't get me wrong, I don't think that acting out violently is the solution. I just wish that someone would had paid more attention to the situation before the boy snapped. There had to be signs. It just takes one person to change the path, a concerned parent, classmate, teacher, someone could had prevented this horrible act. We don't need to invest in more security, but invest time and try to be that person with a kind word, an open ear, and prevent people from feeling like that is their only option.
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16 comments:
I say people who snap are the ones that should be killed. They are weak and would never be able to handle the real world when they grow up. There is way more stress in adult life than any kid ever has to put up with. I was bullied all the time as a kid and was rammed into fences and beat up and made fun of and I never picked up a gun and shot people. If you are not a big enough person to get over childhood bullies then why not just shoot yourself instead of killing other people and then killing yourself in the end anyways. Just cut out the middle man.
Aaron, I see where you're coming from but it's just sad. I wish people wouldn't bully other people and I wish school could be a safe place to send your kids. Unfortunately, as we have all witnessed, it's not at all safe.
I also agree that there could have been an adult figure in a person's life that could have picked up on the warning signs that a kid is about to snap. I was never really bullied but I did see a few kids being bullied and it really just made me sick to my stomache. It's true that there is a real world out there that is more stressful than school bullying but you have to try and picture what it could be like to be in their shoes. We don't know what their home life has been like, what they're life has been like up until now, and we don't know what their parents have been telling them. I believe part of it could be a chemical imbalance but the majority goes back to the parents. The parents could have, just as they always can, intervened and saved a bunch of lives.
We cant stop "kids" from being "kids" there is always going to be someone in school picking on, or bullying other students. But we need to better prepare our children for this so they handle it in a healthy way - not where they internalize it and become hatred-filled and violent. If you notice behavioral changes or see major changes in personality, don't just sit by and wait for it to pass...Do something, be involved. In most of these cases there were signs the individual were disturbed.
If someone was halfway in tuned with their kid, they would have to notice Something was not right before the school got blown up.
I do think their should be something to stop these kids, but not as extreme as just letting them kill themselves. Sometimes just talking to them wont solve the problem, but it would help.
Even if one was bullied around in their life, that does not mean that they have the right to hurt or kill another person just because they are being treated differently. Go to a parent, your friends or your teachers. A problem like this can be solved with just a little bit of attention.
Lord of the Flies is a good example of how barbaric kids and the human nature can be. This energy and resentment does need to be harnessed. Columbine was only a gateway to an affective way of dealing with these kids' problems. It was affective in that the kids not getting the attention they wanted, got their attention. It is very sad. I do believe the focus shouldn't be only on those who were bullying. These kids need to be held accountable for their actions. Violence is too kind. This is murder.
I completely agree. The unfortunate part is, the schools don't put as much into it as they use to. We have counselors in the school and I'm trying to figure out what for? I can remember when I was in school they were there for you. But, now so many childrens cries are left unheard.
My oldest son had a friend back in March that commited suicide. It was all due to the kids in school constantly giving him a hard time about the way he dressed and looked. My son said he talked to teachers and counselors numerous of times. But his cries were left unheard and he took his own life. School is so different these days. The people that are there to care for our children are just not truly concerned with what is going on in their lives. I think that all school systems need to re-evaluate the way that they handle things and maybe school shootings will be cut back some. But also a lot of this has to be a part of the parents. If children aren't submitted to guns and other kinds of weapons then they wouldn't be able to bring these weapons to school and the crimes like this wouldn't be commited.
I agree. I am feel that small changes can make all the difference. You may not agree, but I feel that school uniforms would end the teasing about clothes. My child attends a school with mandatory uniforms and she tells me that no one gets teased about the way they dress. Another change would be mandatory classes on ethnic and cultural differences. Most of the children doing the bullying have poor perceptions about people who are different. Bullying is more powerful than we think.
I agree that teachers and school counselors should be more diligent in looking for signs of bullying, behavioral changes, etc. However, I think most of it starts in the home. If these kids were being taught how to behave by their parents, there wouldn't be so many problems. There has been such a decline in basic morals and respect in youths in recent years. I have to believe that if parents did more to remedy this, it would rectify a lot of the problems in schools.
I heard a comment on the news the other night, that mentioned a couple of kids actually saw this boy in the restroom loading the fire arms and did not tell anyone because they thought he was playing. Not to say it would have prevented the situation but at least if someone would have been notified they could have locked down the school intill they were sure.
I fully agree with you on this toic. True, everyone who gets bullied don't snap, but it all depends on the person's perception of the situation. I know it seems like a hard thing to go to an adult figure and report the bullying, because in most cases, that only makes the situation worse. I think we need to train teachers, while they are in school for thier education degrees, and other figures to be able to spot bullying and to learn how to approach the situation in hopes of making it better.
apparently the principle even knew about this boy and his threats. This event just shows that people need to pay attention more. Some people just can't cope with bullying and the just break a fuse. Some handle it better. Paying attention to those who can't should be top priority.
An online discussion in another one of my courses began over this topic. I began my argument with that discussion by addressing the fact that kids are killing kids because adults are killing adults. Every once in a while it just makes a person’s day when you show some interest in them. Saying hello or even a generous wave can make someone’s day.
There is no telling what that child went through at home. We can’t read anyone’s mind and understand everything about them. We are not supposed to. These things happen every day. The media is just now exposing it more. I remember in high school weapon violence was terrible. The news never reported the fact that students like myself had to arrive to school at least 30 minutes early to get through the book bag search, Detroit Police Department “pat down”, and metal detectors. So many teachers and students had been either threatened of hurt with guns and knives that we got a firm shake down every morning before class and no bags, jackets, of purses of any kind were even allowed in the class room.
I think people are so crual today and need to learn to be more nice to each other. Another thing is parents need to try and be more involved in the childs life.
Nope, I don't think school counselors are doing their job but I don't think they CAN do their job. Schools are so massively overpopulated now a days and if a child misinterpurets what a counselor tells them and tells their parent what they heard, the counselor could get in major trouble. Specially since some kids go looking to get others in trouble to kee the blame off themselves.
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