High School Shooting

[Niamh]

I was just turning on the news for info on the big storm supposed to hit New England and heard the news of the shooting at the high school in Santee, CA. I feel so nervous and upset for the studens and parents of that community! Plus, the things they tend to speculate about the gunman are upsetting as well. It's as if the reporters and investigators have forgotten what it's like to be a teenager!
Has anyone else heard about it? What do you think?

[Rosabelle]

i heard about that about half an hour ago, but us over in England werent given much detail. I'm sorry if you think i'm egsadurating, but we seem to here about loads of shootings over here in england about America. does it happen often? over here in the UK, gins are banned. it was after the Dunblain incident when about 30 children were killed in a primary school by a gunman. the gunman then killed himself so everyone thought he wasnt mentally sound (i'm really sorry if that sounds as though i'm making fun, but i can't find any other words). This is really upsetting! i think it happens too often!!
Rosabelle

[mol]

Well, guns are definitely not banned here in the States. I have been at work all day...so I have not even heard about it.

I just think it is a shame. One more for them to blame it on Rock n roll, Satanism, or Witchcraft.

[Niamh]

No, I don't think you're exagerating. Having it happen once is more than it should happen! And it's happened more than once here, I can tell you that. It's horrible.

[chaos]

just think. all of these kids will soon be raising their own kids. thats when the sheet hits the fan.

[Kalima]

This just plain irritates me - shootings of this sort have been going on for years in poorer schools in America, but when the upper and middle classes get involved, it's suddenly a 'tragic event'.
It was tragic before, it has been tragic for years, and nobody's done ANYTHING about it!
Grrrr....

[Niamh]

No, you're right. ANd I don't believe people are really doing anything about it now, either! It seems like they cry and scream and the media pays attention to the shooting, but that's not really doing anything worth while!

[RavenShadow]

Well, its not that they aren't trying to do anything, its that what they are doing is inneffective. Every time one of those shootings occurrs, they send the school counsellors around to 'set our thought process straight.' This includes calling in everyone who wears black, isn't a Christian or Mormon, or is a known rebel (lucky me, I'm all 3...), so that they can scare us to death about it. They think what they're doing is working, and they are trying. The sad part is that we, the students, are more successfully suffocating the violence than the faculty and administration are, and by doing exactly the opposite of what they do.

[cydira]

As one who lost a family member to "school violence" and someone that has experienced the persecution that pagan highschool students get, I am deeply disturbed, hurt and angered by the violence and I feel that it must stop. One of the keys to stopping it is to prevent these "news magazine" shows and the rest of the media from glorifying this madness. It is a horrid injustice to those who have been murdered by the perpetrators of this violence and it downplays the people who are suffering from it.

Alot of people like to blame the Craft, the entertainment industry, and different subcultures for this violence that has been plauging our schools for years. The real source of this violence, in my dramatically less than humble opinion, lies in the fact that the educational system and the community will turn a blind eye to the daily harassment of students, the daily emotional abuse that students will suffer from their educators (not all, but many do this in my personaly experiance), and the sadistic ridicule that is made of the students that don't "fit in." Until something is done, students will continue to feel compelled to participate in gang violence, to comitt suicide, to murder each other, and to suffer deep psychological and emotional angst.

Students are not the problem here. As much as I hate the word and it's implications, we are the victims. As minors, our rights are virtually non-existant. Children are little better then property to their parents, legal gaurdians or the state in the eyes of the law. Our educational system doesn't really teach us how to function in the "real world" or how to apply the knowledge that is presented to us. Instead, the educational system will foist standardized tests on students in the attempt to fool the world and themselves that we are an educated nation. The reality of the drop in the reading level of the country is evidence otherwise.

And, when we become young adults and persue our educations or carreers, often we are viewed as second class citizens untill we reach our late twenties and early thirties. Colleges will insist on sending grades home to parents, even if the student is paying for their entire college experience. Doctors, businesses, and other professionals will talk down to a young adult, even more so to a young woman. We are coddled and encouraged to keep our heads in the sands for as long as possible. And then, the questions of why our country is in this negative spiral arise.

No, we are not the problem.

[RavenShadow]

I agree with you completely. It is not our fault, it is the fault of the teachers. Actually, it is the Administration. Teachers are discouraged from 'becoming involved'. I know one teacher who almost lost her job for trying to help a student who was having emotional difficulties. Even the students, those in the best position to stop the violence, are discouraged. My boyfriend and I are trying to help another persecuted student away from violence, and we were called on it! The vice-principal expressly forbid us from trying to help him. It is almost as if they are *trying* to make this shit happen.

[cydira]

RavenShadow, keep after the person who is contemplating that violence. If the principal feels the urge to harass you, just set your parents/legal gardians/whom ever loose on them. First off, the principal has no right to stop students from congregating and socializing. Second, that student is in need of *any* social contact that they can get. That's the best advice I can give. I do know where you're coming from, I had talked some one out of bringing a gun to school when I was in highschool. The worst that happened was they brought in a paint ball gun and painted the principal's door neon green. But that's an entirely different story...

[MammaStar]

Ever since the horror in Columbine, I have thought long and hard about violience in school. I worry about my son, a lot, because I can see him becoming a victim of bullies, and general harrassment for several reasons. 1. his mom is a witch; 2. he's slightly overweight, and 3. he's a very sensitive child. He's had a problem recently (he's in 3rd grade) and luckily for me, not only did we handle it at home, but the teacher has taken an active roll making sure, the child who's doing the teasing, has been told it won't be tolerated and the boy's parents have been called to school.

I, and again, only an opinion, think that the parents of today (especially those with teenagers) need to be involved with there kids. Giving them enough room to grow and become their own person, but also to be there and have that child know that they can go to there folks if there's a problem. Parking your kid in front of the TV or computer is not effective parenting. Now, my son is only 9 and yes, it's easier for me to be involved, but my co-worker is the mother of a 20 year old and 17 year old. Her oldest goes to Villanova now, but even though they are a state away, she knows the important things that go on in his life. As well as the 17 year old, who's a junior. You can't look at your child who's distant, depressed, disinterested and say "it's just a phase". It may be, but then again there could be problems. Stay involved with your kids. Talk to them. Help guide them to make their own decisions. And always, ALWAYS let them know that you love them and support them no matter what. And we as the adults, have to try and remember what it was like when we were young.

No my little speech is done. I do hope one thing, especially for myself, is that I remember all this when my son gets older. I consider myself pretty lucky that we talk and have our time together and I will do my best to make sure that never changes.

[RavenShadow]

I don't know. Many parents try to be involved i their childrens' lives, but it doesn't really work that way. It becomes more of a reason to stay away from the house, and do less with them, because one is so tired of them always being there. I, personally, think that what is needed is not parenting, but rather less of it. It is the response to over-active parents and their influence on the schools that depresses many people.

In essence, parents need to stop trying to be a part of every aspect of their childrens' lives. It is their influence that has made America's educational and (many) social problems. We used to kick our young out of the tribe when they were teens, but now we hold on to them into their mid-forties. It is creating a dependence, and I think that if parents and other 'role-models' would back off, there would be much fewer problems.

[Earth Walker]

:D The blame for the violence and shootings in
schools, and businesses lies squarely on the
shoulders of the patriarchal religions. For 2,500 -3,000
years they have kept people victimized through fear.
Why do they teach people to fear death, to become
obsessed with death? Why do they teach that it is
okay to harm/murder others, Pagans, Blacks, and
other non-caucasians, gays, lesbians, and members
of other minorities?
The government is to blame for this as well. They have
totally stripped parents of the right to discipline their
children, and when the kids run amok, the parents
get the full blame. :confused:
Of course, these right-wing controlled governments
use the media to portray these do-gooders as Pagans,
Witches, with euphanisms like weirdos, nature-freaks,
and so on.
These do-gooders are New Age, counterfeit religion
strongly tied to the existing patriarchal religions.
They use Pagan traditions and beliefs in the attempt
to appear legitimate, but this New Age movement is
controlled by patriarchy...the New World Order...WTO,
FTAA, MAI, etc. They want to do away with money, BUT
they are also pushing for people to have computer
chips implanted in their hands or wrists, without which
people will not be able to "buy or sell". In other words,
it is business as usual. :mad: