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And why is ours the only civilized country in which this kind of thing happens? We're a gold-plated Somalia. And as long as someone at the top of the pile is making money, nobody in power cares. I've grown weary of being disgusted with the turn this country is taking.
Over the past few decades, I think there has been a real lack of teaching/modeling empathy whether by parental example or in school programs. It doesn't help that our culture emphasizes individual success over everything else. I keep wondering why there are so many lost young males especially since the recession. One of the reasons I wanted to volunteer at an elementary school was to see just how we are teaching young children. I was impressed that the kindergarten teacher stresses how the "other" feels in different situations. When DD was in public school, it was all about self-esteem.Quote:
we are much better at teaching violence than we are at teaching respect.
My wife is an aide in an emotional support classroom. I am aghast at the stories she recounts about the violence elementary school age troubled kids are displaying. I am not surprised some of them gain access to firearms and use them. We have a serious problem with responsible firearms ownership, phobia on the one side and infatuation with gun violence on the other. It really is no different than the failed war on drugs. We are proposing the same solutions. Get tough, make new laws and spend more on incarceration for gun offenses. It troubles me that we didn’t learn anything from our making felons out of our neighbors.Quote:
Originally Posted by pinkytoe
I read a book recently about Danish parenting and it is a 180 from how we raise our kids. For the most part, they don't tolerate a violent populace.
I volunteer with a trauma intervention program. In the last couple of years we have seen an alarming increase in teen suicides. There is a great deal of despair and anxiety amongst our youth. I only work one shift a week but it is rare that I don't have at least one suicide per shift, I often have two. Something is very very wrong.
I live not far from where yesterday's shooting happened. Someone at a work lunch today said that this shooting is the fault of "the libtards in Broward County" and that "proper school security" is the answer.
You have got to be kidding me.
This kid who killed his classmates yesterday was in middle school when Sandy Hook happened. If proper gun control had been put into place then, he would not have had the opportunity to buy the gun he used to kill. Could he have snapped and killed? Of course he could have. Would it have been as bad? Less likely. But I suppose those who read the 2nd Amendment without any reference to the "well-regulated militia" do not care about the possibility of lessening the number of dead. After all, if someone wants to kill, they say, that person will find a way to kill. Sure. But why make it so easy for them?
And the "originalists" who believe in following the letter of the Constitution as if we were still in the 18th century who forget that there were no weapons such as these in those times--how convenient of them. Their prayers are noted.
As for those who say it requires an examination of where we are as a culture--okay, fine, let's do that, too. Why is that mutually exclusive with limiting the access to and sheer number of firearms?
I was following a FB thread where someone posted that a good solution to this current crisis is to arm all teachers. What??? Never mind that most teachers will never have the full training required to actually use a gun without killing the wrong people, it makes me wonder why the solution is to up the ante with regard to accepting that we have to assume violence in our everyday lives by making guns mandatory for public servants in schools. To me, that says the violence wins.
The answer isn't to arm all teachers, it's to de-criminalize the arming of trained, proficient teachers. Most of these events take place in gun-free zones for a reason.Quote:
Originally Posted by catherine
Most of these events take place with guns for a reason.Quote:
Originally Posted by Alan
Yes, because they're efficient. In other parts of the world where guns are criminalized, knives and vehicles are more efficient but with the same result, especially in self-defense free zones.Quote:
Originally Posted by TVRodriguez