We Baby Boomers complain about atomic drills, when we crouched under our desks to practice for the coming nuclear holocaust. But kids these days have it worse. They have crazy shooter lockdown drills, and the crazy shooter scenario is much more likely than the nuclear holocaust one.

[www.washingtonpost.com]

There are too many guns within easy reach of too many unstable people.

I agree about too many guns. The combination of gun and emotionally unstable young person is never good.
This kid today had a .22 on him in addition to the revolver he used to shoot his 5 victims. So some adult doesn't know where his guns are, although the rifle could have been his. In Ohio kids under 17 can hunt on grandparents property with no license, and his grands had 40+ acres where neighbors said they heard "target practice."

The only drills I remember from school are fire drills.

But I've taught school in the post-Columbine era with the lock down drills and I don't think they are too scary for kids, as drills go. We never talk about "shooters" during the drill and sometimes don't even call it "lock down." The kids just stay in their desks and keep working, teachers lock the door, close blinds and turn off the lights for about a minute. And we do this maybe twice a year. The adults have a lot more information than the kids, certainly at ages younger than high schools, I really don't think it's too scary for them.
More important is that local law enforcement have a rapid response plan in place for the school, as this Ohio town clearly did.

My own kids are more concerned about earthquakes than shooters, since they've been through a few of those shaking events at school.

We do get very rattled by these events such as the one in Ohio today, which is extremely sad, but I always try to keep in mind that there was more violent crime 30 years ago than now. My kids are less likely to be violent crime victims than I was at their age. (and in both cases that chance is very low.)

Oh crap news saying a second student involved has died.
One still critical, 2 others serious.

I'll politely stay out of this. Today's events were literally too close to home..... jeezuz... I KNEW one of the boys that had been shot.... He's in serious condition but expected to pull through. Last met him when he was about 5.. his Mom and Stepfather were coworkers.
Thank you for understanding.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/27/2012 07:35PM by cbelt3.

it may be less violent overall than decades ago, but there were certainly fewer school shootings and the victims and perpetrators of violent crimes were older than today.

again, easy access to firearms makes instant retribution a piece of cake.

From time to time, my kids school brings in drug sniffing dogs, maybe they ought to augment them with gunpowder sniffers.

Thinking drugs should be decriminalized and guns outlawed apparently puts me on the outer edge of political thought in this here USofA.

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RgrF
From time to time, my kids school brings in drug sniffing dogs, maybe they ought to augment them with gunpowder sniffers.

Thinking drugs should be decriminalized and guns outlawed apparently puts me on the outer edge of political thought in this here USofA.

I'm right out there on the edge with you Roger.
Our voices are just not as powerful as the NRA or the for-profit prison industries.
I'd settle for common sense regulation of guns, don't even have to be outlawed.

[globalpublicsquare.blogs.cnn.com]

This is one of the best essays on the topic of school shootings that I've read in a long while. Honest but non-inflammatory and down to earth.


Ask yourself honestly: What's the real difference between our youth and youths around the world?

More mental health problems? No.
More drug crime? Yes, but drug crimes are almost never an issue in these school shootings.
Slack law enforcement? No, we lock up more people than any other country.
Unsafe schools? No, schools are more secure than ever.
Kids more aggressive than they used to be? No evidence of that.
Society more permissive of violent imagery? No. Violent media images have been with us for a long time and they exist across cultures.
Easier access to powerful, deadly weapons? Yes.

I don't like guns. I wish there were a lot fewer of them around. But the cat is out of the bag, they are practically everywhere (there are 90 guns for every 100 people in the U.S. ). The Supreme Court has ruled that citizens have a Constitutional right to own a gun. But I think we can make laws to assure that people are required to secure their guns in a way that they are much less likely to be used by children to harm or kill themselves or other people - and to make gun owners liable for severe consequences if children get ahold of and use their guns to harm or kill someone.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/28/2012 10:15AM by Ted King.

i'm with you, Ted.

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[www.giyf.com]

A third student has died in this tragic Ohio incident.

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Grace62
A third student has died in this tragic Ohio incident.

[www.cnn.com]

over 100 civilians a day in Syria, including women and children.

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[www.giyf.com]

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decay

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Grace62
A third student has died in this tragic Ohio incident.

[www.cnn.com]

over 100 civilians a day in Syria, including women and children.

And?

This young man is going to be charged with murder as an adult, I'd expect. They just did the juvenile detention hearing and the judge was already using language to suggest that.

i posted as a point of perspective.

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[www.giyf.com]

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decay
i posted as a point of perspective.

Nothing happening in Syria lessens the impact of what people are facing in that community in Ohio.

If you want to talk about the political violence in Syria, certainly a worthy topic, it seems like that would be a different thread.

it wasn't intended to lessen the impact.

i was comparing our relatively violence-free lives with the insanity of what Syria is dealing with.

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[www.giyf.com]