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At work, still stunned by the Florida shootings, we were comparing memories of the first school shootings we'd ever heard of. Columbine was the first to come to mind, but someone mentioned the Texas Tower Massacre. Not sure of the date we looked it up only to discover the United States has a long and complicated history of school shootings.
According to Wikipedia the first school shooting was on July 26, 1764! I had no idea. If you wanted to print the list out it's 169 pages long.
Sadly, we have a long and bloody tradition of school massacres.
One of the first school shootings to get national attention was in Pearl, Mississippi where my son lives. It happened back in 1997 when Luke Woodham killed his mother and then went to school on a shooting rampage. It gets brought up often when there is another school shooting.
I hold the opinion that we are reaping what we have sown as a people. We teach children that killing is fun, and the more they kill, the higher the level they will reach. We buy them elaborate mock killing entertainment and let them spend hours in isolation or with others whose favorite activity is mock killing. We give them over to this activity and it becomes a passion for which they may yearn to act out for real.
It is remarkable that there are as few shootings as there are, considering how many youths are spending their hours alone in their rooms, on social media, playing games that are also often on social media, and getting more and more depressed. Recent research shows that this is a significant trend, but I haven't seen anything about related school shootings.
I'm not surprised at all and I expect it to continue and probably get worse.
At work, still stunned by the Florida shootings, we were comparing memories of the first school shootings we'd ever heard of. Columbine was the first to come to mind, but someone mentioned the Texas Tower Massacre. Not sure of the date we looked it up only to discover the United States has a long and complicated history of school shootings.
According to Wikipedia the first school shooting was on July 26, 1764! I had no idea. If you wanted to print the list out it's 169 pages long.
Sadly, we have a long and bloody tradition of school massacres.
At work, still stunned by the Florida shootings, we were comparing memories of the first school shootings we'd ever heard of. Columbine was the first to come to mind, but someone mentioned the Texas Tower Massacre. Not sure of the date we looked it up only to discover the United States has a long and complicated history of school shootings.
According to Wikipedia the first school shooting was on July 26, 1764! I had no idea. If you wanted to print the list out it's 169 pages long.
Sadly, we have a long and bloody tradition of school massacres.
I know that. The question is why are they getting more and more frequent since Columbine? I’m pretty sure it’s the rise of the Internet and 24/7 news. They get a lot more attention if they kill people than if they just kill themselves. How many of these people do we hear about who viewed lots of stuff on Columbine before they did it? It’s like those guys are anti-heroes to the crazies of the world.
One of the first school shootings to get national attention was in Pearl, Mississippi where my son lives. It happened back in 1997 when Luke Woodham killed his mother and then went to school on a shooting rampage. It gets brought up often when there is another school shooting.
I hold the opinion that we are reaping what we have sown as a people. We teach children that killing is fun, and the more they kill, the higher the level they will reach. We buy them elaborate mock killing entertainment and let them spend hours in isolation or with others whose favorite activity is mock killing. We give them over to this activity and it becomes a passion for which they may yearn to act out for real.
It is remarkable that there are as few shootings as there are, considering how many youths are spending their hours alone in their rooms, on social media, playing games that are also often on social media, and getting more and more depressed. Recent research shows that this is a significant trend, but I haven't seen anything about related school shootings.
I'm not surprised at all and I expect it to continue and probably get worse.
That incident is also one where an armed assistant principal stopped the shooter and prevented it from being any worse. Of course since then schools are "gun free zones" so an armed employee isn't going to be there to stop another one.
One of the first school shootings to get national attention was in Pearl, Mississippi where my son lives. It happened back in 1997 when Luke Woodham killed his mother and then went to school on a shooting rampage. It gets brought up often when there is another school shooting.
I hold the opinion that we are reaping what we have sown as a people. We teach children that killing is fun, and the more they kill, the higher the level they will reach. We buy them elaborate mock killing entertainment and let them spend hours in isolation or with others whose favorite activity is mock killing. We give them over to this activity and it becomes a passion for which they may yearn to act out for real.
It is remarkable that there are as few shootings as there are, considering how many youths are spending their hours alone in their rooms, on social media, playing games that are also often on social media, and getting more and more depressed. Recent research shows that this is a significant trend, but I haven't seen anything about related school shootings.
I'm not surprised at all and I expect it to continue and probably get worse.
I remember that shooting in Pearl MS and it was horrifying because at that time it was unheard of for a young adult or child to enter a school and murder children and teachers.
The common denominator among most of these shooters is they were bullied or ostracized by other children. They were different and did not fit in which caused depression and other mental issues. I agree that social media and isolation may play a part but bullying is more extreme than when we were in school. Bullying on social media is brutal and causes many children to act out with revenge or commit suicide.
I don't have all the answers but each school shooting is heartbreaking.
At work, still stunned by the Florida shootings, we were comparing memories of the first school shootings we'd ever heard of. Columbine was the first to come to mind, but someone mentioned the Texas Tower Massacre. Not sure of the date we looked it up only to discover the United States has a long and complicated history of school shootings.
According to Wikipedia the first school shooting was on July 26, 1764! I had no idea. If you wanted to print the list out it's 169 pages long.
Sadly, we have a long and bloody tradition of school massacres.
Guns were more available in the past. Until 1968 anyone could get one shipped right to their house, mail order. Until 1993 there were no background checks. Until the last few years, no one had heard of reduced capacity magazines or silly things like bans on semi-auto rifles or pistol grip stocks. And yet, wne those things were all legal, everywhere, mass shootings were rare. Like zero to 3 a year rare.
The availability of guns didn't change (well, actually it did, it got more difficult). But people sure did. We value life and self control a whole lot less now.
Is it the rise of single-parent households?
The families with both parents working outside the house?
Movies glorifying murder?
Video games?
Increased bullying and response?
The rise of the internet and social media, making real, face to face interactions rare and people less valued?
Increased mental illness associated with ever increasing urbanization and a disconnect from nature?
The devaluing of human life associated with the rising incidence of abortion?
Last edited by Toyman at Jewel Lake; 02-15-2018 at 09:28 PM..
I know that. The question is why are they getting more and more frequent since Columbine? I’m pretty sure it’s the rise of the Internet and 24/7 news. They get a lot more attention if they kill people than if they just kill themselves. How many of these people do we hear about who viewed lots of stuff on Columbine before they did it? It’s like those guys are anti-heroes to the crazies of the world.
I will immediately think of how poorly some are being raised to end up with such emotional issues, meaning in dysfunctional homes, with those who don't know how to raise others, having negative influences, giving guns such priority. Then with this negative, political influence, it doesn't help. A person like this does not have to turn out that way, if only having been raised by those who function normally and appropriately. Everyone can be affected emotionally to some degree, but how extreme does it need to be to end up reacting like this?
What was it that prompted this, I did not hear the actual motivation, like another troubled guy who was in college who had complained about "not getting attention from the hot girls", so he blew away those at the school and himself. (I think he had used his mother's guns).
I will immediately think of how poorly some are being raised to end up with such emotional issues, meaning in dysfunctional homes, with those who don't know how to raise others, having negative influences, giving guns such priority. Then with this negative, political influence, it doesn't help. A person like this does not have to turn out that way, if only having been raised by those who function normally and appropriately. Everyone can be affected emotionally to some degree, but how extreme does it need to be to end up reacting like this?
What was it that prompted this, I did not hear the actual motivation, like another troubled guy who was in college who had complained about "not getting attention from the hot girls", so he blew away those at the school and himself. (I think he had used his mother's guns).
We don’t know how his parents were, but we do know his mother died last November. If she were alive, maybe he would have never done this. She knew him better than anyone else. Obviously the people who took him in didn’t know what he was capable of.
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(I think he had used his mother's guns).
