Comment Re:WHY DO ADULTS KILL (Score 1) 1087
Wake up. Get real. The two are not related. Man has fought each other in war for thousands of years. It's probably some horrible gene or something--this terrible need we seem to have to destroy each other on fields of battle. Yet only in the last few years have we had kids going to school with guns and bombs to end their peer's lives. And I emphasize PEERS. We are all the same, regardless how we try to set ourselves apart in clothing, cars, trophy girlfriend/boyfriends, etc. I don't think High School years are easy for anybody. The "Nerds" and "Geeks" may all have poor self-esteem, but I assure you that those who have healthy self-esteem have no need or desire to belittle others, "Nerds," "Geeks" or otherwise.
Last, regarding "Why do adults kill?" I think it interesting that you ask that question. I was just wondering this morning if any of these school shootings happened before the "Postal" incident. I don't have the information, like a timeline, but I really wonder if some kid read the story in the paper, or saw it on the boob tube, and thought, "Gnarley idea! That's it! That's how I can get even!" Now I'm not saying that verbal abuse, hazing, harassment, or even rape are an excuse for murder... well, maybe rape, but this thing will never be solved until people get real and start to look inside themselves for how they contributed to this (I really wonder how many "jocks" have gotten away with raping or even gang-raping some poor girl through the years).
I would really like to know how many kids who teased, harassed, and belittled the Columbine shooters now wish they had it to do over again. Sadly, I think denial is in the minds of the majority of the "Jocks and bops" (whatever a bop is).
I watched the Dateline segment highlighting the victims with tears streaming down my own cheeks, but I still cannot know the depth of the grief of the parents of the dead. I say this because I want those parents to know that although I empathize with them and my heart goes out to them, I will be very surprised if any of them would be willing to admit that their child in any way contributed to the shooter's hatred and rage acted out that day. And I fully recognize that some of the dead probably never said a single unfriendly thing to the shooters, or anyone else for that matter.
I submit that Denial is the most dangerous and damaging threat to our kids in school...
Denial of the parents of the shooters when the teacher calls them regarding the horribly violent stories or artwork that little Johnny is doing, or the "I hate People" headband, or the website with instructions on bomb-making and hate industry song lyrics.
Denial of the parents of the "jocks and bops" regarding their hazing and harassment and relentlessly cruel teasing of those not as athletically talented, or gifted with such aesthetically pleasing facial bone structure (or blessed/cursed with the parental financial resources for plastic surgery for nose jobs, ear pulls and even boob jobs!!!)
And the denial of every other person who points a finger at DOOM, Marilyn Manson, or gun control. My opinion has actually changed regarding DOOM in the course of all the reading I have done about this situation. I still am not going to let my 7 year old play it for a few years because of the gore, but I think it provides nothing more than a cathartic outlet, just as punching a pillow or a heavy bag is a similarly healthy outlet for that same aggression or rage. If I'm right about the mental state of the shooters, it is no wonder to me they were fanatics about games like DOOM. I'm thinking there were probably a good many people they WANTED to shoot, not the least of which is their own parents. As for Marilyn Manson, I think anybody that wants to look like a demon will probably spend their eternity with them, but I don't believe that music drove the kids to murder. Gun control? The kids were using weapons that are already illegal. Will we feel better to have more laws on the books that are either not enforced, or that we can say we COULD have charged them with violating if they had not blown their own heads off? Or is it just the point of doing something, ANYTHING--just as long as it's not looking at how my own parenting/lack of, and the hazing my own kids visited on the shooters contributed to this?
I'm out
Last, regarding "Why do adults kill?" I think it interesting that you ask that question. I was just wondering this morning if any of these school shootings happened before the "Postal" incident. I don't have the information, like a timeline, but I really wonder if some kid read the story in the paper, or saw it on the boob tube, and thought, "Gnarley idea! That's it! That's how I can get even!" Now I'm not saying that verbal abuse, hazing, harassment, or even rape are an excuse for murder... well, maybe rape, but this thing will never be solved until people get real and start to look inside themselves for how they contributed to this (I really wonder how many "jocks" have gotten away with raping or even gang-raping some poor girl through the years).
I would really like to know how many kids who teased, harassed, and belittled the Columbine shooters now wish they had it to do over again. Sadly, I think denial is in the minds of the majority of the "Jocks and bops" (whatever a bop is).
I watched the Dateline segment highlighting the victims with tears streaming down my own cheeks, but I still cannot know the depth of the grief of the parents of the dead. I say this because I want those parents to know that although I empathize with them and my heart goes out to them, I will be very surprised if any of them would be willing to admit that their child in any way contributed to the shooter's hatred and rage acted out that day. And I fully recognize that some of the dead probably never said a single unfriendly thing to the shooters, or anyone else for that matter.
I submit that Denial is the most dangerous and damaging threat to our kids in school...
Denial of the parents of the shooters when the teacher calls them regarding the horribly violent stories or artwork that little Johnny is doing, or the "I hate People" headband, or the website with instructions on bomb-making and hate industry song lyrics.
Denial of the parents of the "jocks and bops" regarding their hazing and harassment and relentlessly cruel teasing of those not as athletically talented, or gifted with such aesthetically pleasing facial bone structure (or blessed/cursed with the parental financial resources for plastic surgery for nose jobs, ear pulls and even boob jobs!!!)
And the denial of every other person who points a finger at DOOM, Marilyn Manson, or gun control. My opinion has actually changed regarding DOOM in the course of all the reading I have done about this situation. I still am not going to let my 7 year old play it for a few years because of the gore, but I think it provides nothing more than a cathartic outlet, just as punching a pillow or a heavy bag is a similarly healthy outlet for that same aggression or rage. If I'm right about the mental state of the shooters, it is no wonder to me they were fanatics about games like DOOM. I'm thinking there were probably a good many people they WANTED to shoot, not the least of which is their own parents. As for Marilyn Manson, I think anybody that wants to look like a demon will probably spend their eternity with them, but I don't believe that music drove the kids to murder. Gun control? The kids were using weapons that are already illegal. Will we feel better to have more laws on the books that are either not enforced, or that we can say we COULD have charged them with violating if they had not blown their own heads off? Or is it just the point of doing something, ANYTHING--just as long as it's not looking at how my own parenting/lack of, and the hazing my own kids visited on the shooters contributed to this?
I'm out
