WBOB Original Reads

School Shootings. The Staff's Take

2/5/2014

There have been 387 school shootings since 1992 in the United States. Many of these tragedies, such as Columbine and the more recent Sandy Hook, send a chill down the spine of our nation, yet they all serve as a permanent reminder that (even in the safe haven of our halls of education) we are never fully safe from harm. The fact that children (ages 5-14) in America are 13 times more likely to be murdered with guns as children in other industrialized countries, is enough to concern any parent with children in the U.S. school system. But why is this and how do we turn the page on this recurring theme?

Dave
13 Folds Radio

I believe that the answer is simple. There is an old African proverb (wielded as a popular book title by Hillary Clinton, back in the 90s) which states that “it takes a village to raise a child”. This statement can best be exemplified by the childhood memories that I have, of neighbors chastising my friends and I as we battled each other with roman candles and M-80 firecrackers. The point being that, as a child, I was never safe from the ridicule and discipline of an adult, even when away from my parents. There was always someone in “the village” willing to exact swift justice on me when I was on the verge of engaging in some kind of foolish action.

Unfortunately, in today’s society, adults have been conditioned to ignore the world around them. Getting involved with another person’s child is considered the ultimate taboo, so much to the point that we have even renounced the act of “in school discipline” by those whom we trust to teach and raise our children in our absence. In short, our children are being raised in a world without consequences, allowing them too much freedom to make inappropriate decisions on their own terms.

The role models today’s children are presented with, are often disguised as violent video game characters, disrespectful pop idols and arrogant athletes. As a separation of church and state is integrated into our world, we find ourselves slowly migrating from our morals and values. In a society where our children need us most, unsheltered from easily accessible and inappropriate media, we (as responsible adults) need to take the initiative and help our children to understand the truths and consequences behind what they are being exposed. Only then will they begin to see through the sensationalizing of tragedy by media networks. Without other villagers, willing to pick up the slack in a parent’s absence, this will prove to be a daunting task.

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Kenny Nardozza
Comic's Corner

The spike in school shootings could be related to a number of things. My take on this and why it is happening so frequently is because of the media and technology. Just a little over a year ago the world watched in horror as the tragedy known as the Sandy Hook Elementary school shootings occurred. This is where 20-year-old Adam Lanza fatally shot twenty children and six adult staff members in an all out blood bath. Now, I was working in a junior high school in Providence at the time of the shootings and can recall some events that transpired. The main thing that I remember was my students informing me of the horrific events in Newtown, Connecticut before I had any idea of what was going on. Furthermore, as the day went on, more and more students were learning of the shootings.

Read More of Kenny's Thoughts

Bob Giusti
The Franchise

School shootings appear to be quite a different phenomena than the youth gang violence that permeates the streets. Most of them seem to profile a lone shooter (or in Columbine's case; loner shooters) who is retaliating against what amounts to years of feeling out of the mix or (in some cases) bullying. There is also a common disassociation with the consequences of their actions, a desensitized state to death and dying. Some point to violent video games as the culprit for breeding sociopath behaviors in overexposed children. I feel like there are measures taking place within the school systems addressing these issues, but it is a delicate subject to handle beyond the anti bully aspects. I have two little elementary students who casually refer to "intruder alert" drills. Its unfortunate that this is part of the new normal. We need better mental health care as well I think. I wish I had the answers, but education and facing the reality of the times is the best I can do.

High Speed Sal
Veterans News Radio

I believe that it is time that we take personal responsibility for our choices and actions rather than abdicate that responsibility to someone else under the illusion that we have done something that will make us all safer. … We have a responsibility to stand by our principles and act in accordance with them. Our children are watching and they will follow the example we set.

Will Grapentine
GX Radio Active

Ultimately, school shootings, as horribly sad and tragic as they are, are simply the product of the individual raised in a modern society fraught with instant gratification (thanks internet, smart phones, etc) and a devolution in parental involvement and love that ensures young people are strong, confident and responsible members of society.

My view on this is also the same answer about school bullying and child suicides. Bullying was always around. Guns in homes with young children used to be a standard practice (watch classic western 'The Rifleman' to see what I mean). And more recently, violent TV and movies (such as cartoons) and even video games (albeit to a lesser extent) have been around going on 4 generations.

What HAS CHANGED, and what I strongly view as the root cause of escalated violence by young people in schools, is rooted in the "Dr. Spock" soft-soap parenting philosophy that came out of the fifties. In his writings, he believed in constant stream of indulgences and even to the point of not disciplining an unruly child with a spanking.

What has also changed in most recent years (10-15 give or take) is a rise in technology that enforces instantaneous simulation, and thus a short attention span for our young, essentially giving NO COPING MECHANISM for dealing with everyday life.

Over sixty years later, we have seen the product of new age parenting and a rise in technology transform young people into ill-equipped adults. Although this cannot be said for every modern-day kid, it is only the one who is still raised with strong parental involvement that rise above these strongly negative societal changed.

In closing, although it is easy to blame gun access (as both the Aurora and Sandy Hook shootings were committed with legally purchased guns with current gun laws in place) and violence in the media, concerned citizens must look inward, not seek a blame panacea, and ask themselves: what kind of children are we as parents raising and how can make them emotionally ready to face the real world.

John Douglas
NPLC

The Gun-Free School Zones Act (GFSZA, codified at 18 U.S.C.§922(q)) is a federal United States law that prohibits any individual from knowingly possessing a firearm at a place that the individual knows, or has reasonable cause to believe, is a "school zone" as defined by 18 U.S.C.§921(a)(25). Its formal title is the Gun-Free School Zones Act of 1990 and is sometimes referred to as the Gun-Free School Zones Act of 1995, possibly in reference to S. 890.

So, if your name is John Kerry or Barack Obama and you are trying to push for the UN treaty on arms regulation, it is really a no brainer. You want to get some negative publicity about guns killing a lot of innocent people. What better way than to hire someone to go somewhere that guns are prohibited with a lot of helpless children hanging around. The teachers and other staff are generally prohibited from any kind of self defense and the children are usually too young to do anything to protect themselves. So you have a perfect breeding ground for the deception that guns are dangerous and need to be banned so that we can all be safe. Pure hogwash!

"This is about keeping weapons out of the hands of terrorists and rogue actors. This is about reducing the risk of international transfers of conventional arms that will be used to carry out the world's worst crimes. This is about keeping Americans safe and keeping America strong," John Kerry

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