Comment Re:Different != good (Score 1) 321
I am not suggesting sending these kids to the gas chamber, but what harm is there in having them talk to a couseler? The counceler should be competant enough to sort out which kids merely "look different" and which ones are truly disturbed and need help
I think the main point of all this discussion is that society is equating "look different" with "truly disturbed."
Keep in mind, also, that looking different is not a pre-requisite for being dangerous. Some of the most dangerous human beings appeared to be very normal (e.g., Ted Bundy, Jeffrey Dahmer, Timothy McVeigh (sp?)). And wasn't Adolph Hitler Time Magazine's "Man of the Year" at one point? If I'm to believe what I learned in high school, I think Hitler won this honor for revitalizing Germany's economy (before the whole Nazi/WWII thing, of course).
I know you're not saying that looking normal means that people aren't dangerous, but focusing on appearance is not productive, IMHO.
More dangerous than looking (or being) different, I think, are the hateful and violent attitudes that are often expressed against people who are judged to be different. And even worse is the culture that accepts and condones such behavior.
In the Littleton case, students have admitted that the members of the so-called Trenchcoat Mafia were often harassed by the so-called jocks, including being shoved up against lockers, and so forth.
This is not to say that the harassment justifies retaliating and killing people, but unless people are willing to address these 'mainstream' anti-social behaviors as well, the message that will be sent is that it's okay to be hateful and violent as long as you're part of the mainstream.
That's a bad message to send.
The only real way, I think, to help prevent more of these tragedies from occurring is to teach people (all people, not just the ones that look different) to respect each other.
Ironically, society's response to Littleton has been to show complete disrespect for those who are (or appear to be) different.
Life is like an analogy that doesn't make sense
http://www.drizzle.com/~lostboy
I think the main point of all this discussion is that society is equating "look different" with "truly disturbed."
Keep in mind, also, that looking different is not a pre-requisite for being dangerous. Some of the most dangerous human beings appeared to be very normal (e.g., Ted Bundy, Jeffrey Dahmer, Timothy McVeigh (sp?)). And wasn't Adolph Hitler Time Magazine's "Man of the Year" at one point? If I'm to believe what I learned in high school, I think Hitler won this honor for revitalizing Germany's economy (before the whole Nazi/WWII thing, of course).
I know you're not saying that looking normal means that people aren't dangerous, but focusing on appearance is not productive, IMHO.
More dangerous than looking (or being) different, I think, are the hateful and violent attitudes that are often expressed against people who are judged to be different. And even worse is the culture that accepts and condones such behavior.
In the Littleton case, students have admitted that the members of the so-called Trenchcoat Mafia were often harassed by the so-called jocks, including being shoved up against lockers, and so forth.
This is not to say that the harassment justifies retaliating and killing people, but unless people are willing to address these 'mainstream' anti-social behaviors as well, the message that will be sent is that it's okay to be hateful and violent as long as you're part of the mainstream.
That's a bad message to send.
The only real way, I think, to help prevent more of these tragedies from occurring is to teach people (all people, not just the ones that look different) to respect each other.
Ironically, society's response to Littleton has been to show complete disrespect for those who are (or appear to be) different.
Life is like an analogy that doesn't make sense
http://www.drizzle.com/~lostboy
