School Shootings

[KetchumMaine]

I offer a special prayer tonight for the students, staff and families involved in the recent school violence.

Kevin

[Bob S.]

Senseless violence is always shocking and sad. When the victims are children, it is worse.

One family had three daughters. One of them escaped when he let the boys and teachers go. The other two were shot, one fatally.

And the thing is that the Amish community is already talking about forgiving the man for his violence. How appropriate, both for them as a religious people, and for this happening on the Jewish day of Atonemnt, Yom Kippur.

It is one thing to atone for one's own transgressions, but it is another to grant another that same atonement, especially after that person has caused so much harm to you personally and cannot personally ask for it.

Bob S.

[nudeM]

As tragic as this has been, I'm glad he turned the gun on himself and did himself in. Who knows, the way the judicial system is these days, he could have gotten off on some sort of technicality. The chances were slim this would have happened, but who knows, strange things can, and have happened in the past.

I share your grief and I also send out my prayers to the families involved. It's too bad, but this is becoming an every day occurrance, when our kids are becoming victims of such sick people.

[barenaked1]

It's tragic that we may never know the truth and that we have not known the means to avoid these episodes.

Originally posted by nudeM:
As tragic as this has been, I'm glad he turned the gun on himself and did himself in. Who knows, the way the judicial system is these days, he could have gotten off on some sort of technicality. The chances were slim this would have happened, but who knows, strange things can, and have happened in the past.

I share your grief and I also send out my prayers to the families involved. It's too bad, but this is becoming an every day occurrance, when our kids are becoming victims of such sick people.

[johny]

Yeah, from this terrible illness are suffering not only a USA. Even at us happens the same, only the scale is smaller.
1. Newspaper told in the same day as You had Your school shooting at that religious school, we had a pupil with a long knife succeeded to stab four classmates and she-teacher, until she captured him and gave to police investigators. Police find that this 12 old boy got an idea from VIDEOGAMES.....

2.My own sister`s boy became a murder at age of 9. His classmates violently mobed him, and robed a money every day many months long until his patience became too short (and seems he had no good contact/conversation with his mum), so he just brought the kitchen knife with him to school, and as soon that class gang get in a mobbing him, he just stabbed the most hated to the death, and himself jumped through the window to street, heighth about 6th floor. But he stayed alive, and police investigation gave him only warning type of penalty not a real
prison. He told he got an idea about revenge from a TV movies......

3. In the school where I`m working in my class one relatively nice boy got a gun in the midst of lesson and tried to aim on his fellow. Just I used my gun to say - stop or I shall be faster. Happily he stopped and later police investigators find his gun was happily empty of bullets. To investigators he told, he got an idea from TV soup-serials.

You know -in the small "old good" European country in the surrounding of just one calm ordinary citizen as me, in the term of just last couple of years - its damn hardly too much. Its just an national Pandemy I must say. Then what to say about giant America...

[emsdude]

I have children one still in high school, and I just can not wait till she is out. It sure is something the way the world is heading, we fight more here then we do in the wars that are going on, they try to find peace.Some mines just a time bomb, you look at the paper and news, it like it's every day happen. My heart and prayers goes out to PA.I think we just need to prayer for all. God bless us all

[Naturist Mark]

We live in an age of mass communication. Tragic events are instantly flashed around the world, they get a lot of attention. But the actual amount of schoolyard - and school room - crime has dropped over the last few decades - our schoolkids (in America) are safer now than ever before. Schools are far safer for kids than their own homes or neighborhoods.

We just didn't hear about how bad it used to be. Inner city and rural school crime was ignored, and to some extent still is, only middle class or wealthy victims get full attention.

Don't confuse frequency of media attention with frequency of crime.

-Mark

[johny]

Today in our newspaper was more about that pupil who stabbed classmates and teacher this week. Just he was a sort of "class jerk" - very intelligent, clever, but physically weak, and classmates, literally everyone was inquisiting him every day, every lesson, every minute years and years long. He was active member of specific web-page, based in UK about mobed children "revenge plans" where he had been declared his own plans made scrupulosly and thoughfuly. Just green light was set when teacher gave a home-task, to write an essay about theme "may best friend". He explained her he have no any friends here in all the own country, but teacher said - thats Your problem, just invent them to fulfill the task. This teacher was third victim stabbed day after. But survived. Police investigation still goes on for this Ventspils city case.

[johny]

I bit started to think what I am wishing to explain with all I wrote here in this topic.

Just all million people allways make a certain little violences, what allways reflects somewhere. But some rare people are more sensitive as we other with an elefant skin on a hearth, or just contrary - THEIR hearts are not so sensitive as ours about OTHER people sufferings, and them feels like a reflector mirror, those lens type mirror for shaving, what reflects a weak light in a concentrated patch of superstrong light of hate, coming over people what are most remembered wrongdoers (by murder`s understanding of things). Just murder feels like a Hollywood "Rembo" making a sacred revenge for an eternal benefit of all humankind. How damn ironic... But every of us are able to (at least try to) not CAUSE such bad feelings in enyone.

Every may do, feeling a pain when someone push his foot by boot in a tram-vagon, a literal push, physical or by wording, but may do instead just a calm pardon, that I am staying in a place where You are causing me a pain. Most of people understands meekness. If not, them will kill one each another by themselves soon anyhow, and none can stop them like even God Himself wasnt able to stop the brother of Kain to do a wrong.
Never be like such people (wasnt such similar a one of teachings of Jesus??).

Only the pardon to make willfuly to people a heart pains may be an IMPORTANT or PRINCIPIAL things or interests, not a small stratches.

[Bob S.]

I hope Pat Robertson is watching these people and how they are handling themselves. They are being very Christian-like. Pat, however, likes to say things like we should kill a world leader, or that another leader had a stroke because of his politics. These people lost five girls and forgave their daughters' killer.

Bob S.

[Garry]

I wasn't going to post here for respect to the kids and families involved and "contaminate" it with things that would not give them comfort. But after my home town was effected I thought I'd share what happened.

This last week my hometown schools were in lock-down for 2 days along with several schools east of them that encompased a 5000 mile area due to a threatening phone call about a shooting going to take place in one of the schools. A town with a population of 4000. It turned out that the caller was and get this, a sheriff's deputy.

BTW, I was in Denver when Columbine (sp?) happened and met some of the kids that were injured. One I met was taking it real well another wasn't. My sympathies and support goes out to the survivors of these horific acts.

[LamontCranston]

It's tragic that we may never know the truth and that we have not known the means to avoid these episodes.

I wish that instead of cameras and news reports surrounding the victims, the media would shine spotlights into the nooks and crannies of the killer's life.

Makes me wonder how many people looked away from bizarre signs and behaviors during the weeks and months leading up to the tragedy. Could have, would have, should have done something... but didn't.

[usmc1]

The simple truth is this: Victims become offenders who create other victims who become offenders who in turn create other victims who become offenders.

Until mankind builds a society which deals with this simple truth, such events will happen. In recent years we have seen such heinous school violence in the USA, Scotland and Pakistan. Dangerous, disturbed people acting out violence upon the innocent.

A close examination of each of these cases leads us to a perpetrator who at some time or other was victimized by violence, abuse or emotional neglect. Or whose mental illness was overlooked or ignored by distracted care-givers or educators.

This does not mitigate or minimize what they did, but what they did was merely a symptom of the moral decay resulting from a predatory economic system and social construct which rewards material gain and pursuit of pleasure rather than brotherhood, justice and spiritual connection.

The solution: Give up this futile and meaningless hand-wringing and expressions of ineffectual grief and get involved in your community and start pushing back at the forces which permit violence against women and children to continue. Push back against the forces which allow drugs to to be sold on our public streets. Push back against the forces which allow kids to be neglected and abused while the parents struggle, both working, to attain the very basics of life. Push back against the forces which elevate the pursuit of pleasure at the expense of spiritual growth.

"THEY" are not going to do it for you. Get involved, push back.

Get up off your butts and push back. If you ain't pushing back, your expressions of grief and concern and prayers are just so much bilge!

[LamontCranston]

The solution: Give up this futile and meaningless hand-wringing and expressions of ineffectual grief and get involved in your community and start pushing back at the forces which permit violence against women and children to continue. Push back against the forces which allow drugs to to be sold on our public streets. Push back against the forces which allow kids to be neglected and abused while the parents struggle, both working, to attain the very basics of life. Push back against the forces which elevate the pursuit of pleasure at the expense of spiritual growth.

I completely agree. That's why I think the media should be rooting around in the killer's life, not the victims.

I'd like to see people squirm when asked if they knew they had a mass-murderer as a friend, brother-in-law, neighbor, whatever. It must be hard to hide a personality like that, it must be obvious after that fact, and it would get other people to notice things about people that need noticing.

Mike S

p.s. I find I agree with usmc1 on a point. Now, if I can only work my way around to Nacktman or Mark's points of view I'll have more of these sharp edges removed.

[Bob S.]

Garry:"This last week my hometown schools were in lock-down for 2 days along with several schools east of them that encompased a 5000 mile area due to a threatening phone call about a shooting going to take place in one of the schools."

I don't know aboyt you, but a 5,000 mile area seems a bit large. Are you sure about that?

usmc:"Give up this futile and meaningless hand-wringing and expressions of ineffectual grief and get involved in your community and start pushing back at the forces which permit violence against women and children to continue. Push back against the forces which allow drugs to to be sold on our public streets. Push back against the forces which allow kids to be neglected and abused while the parents struggle, both working, to attain the very basics of life. Push back against the forces which elevate the pursuit of pleasure at the expense of spiritual growth."

I agree usmc. Victims will offend only if they do not have a strong support system at home or in the community. Of course the best way to prevent future criminals is to get involved in stopping current crime.

It's not always going to work and there will always be people who want to committ crimes, but the when the environment is that of a strong community, crime is less of a problem.

Bob S.