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Sandy Hook and other school shootings like the 2006 Amish school shooting (and potential rape of the female students), 1999's Columbine, 2001's California shooting, as well as other public shootings whether it was malls, office buildings, movie theaters or politicians doing town hall meetings. The office building is fairly similar to this as well.
The cell phone ban is due to distracted driving. I see so many drivers on their phones weaving between lanes like they are drunk. That and you can EASILY blow lights and stop signs by looking down at your phone for a text or trying to call someone. Now if we do more merging technology like in newer cars where you can reply to texts or call bluetooth wise, it will be the same thing.
TSA is a nessicary evil with 9/11 and the shoe-bomber. I don't like it any more than you but I am yet to hear a better alternative. The alternative is that we can see costs increase due to terrorism as we see fewer seats after planes crash or blow up and they have to buy newer planes to replace those lost.
1. All of the school security in the world would be ineffective if a shooter stood (or was parked) outside the buildings and started shooting in through the windows, or at the playground.
2. With the advent of in-car movies, headunits equipped with video screens, and navigation/music/entertainment systems built into the dashboard, cell phones are just one of many possible devices that cause distraction, yet cell phones are the only distraction that is banned.
3. If TSA was a necessary evil, they'd have caught the underwear bomber. Had it not been for his own ineptness, Northwest Airlines flight 253 would've exploded in the sky over Detroit on Christmas Day 2009.
Bullying is bad -- I was bullied much of my childhood, until I finally went to karate school and learned to stick up for myself -- but I wonder if we've over compensated in the other direction to the point where children are not learning how to deal with disagreement and abuse. There are abusive people out there, and you have to learn how to deal with them, plain and simple. You either learn how while growing up, or you'll learn how (or not) in the working world.
There's got to be a happy medium where kids can grow up in a safe educational environment but still learn how to take care of themselves when necessary.
It's impossible to "over-compensate" because no school will ever be able to totally stamp out bullying. Nor can authority figures stand aside while bullying is taking place, thinking, "Well, I stopped two instances of bullying yesterday, so I guess I'll let this bullying incident go so the victim can learn to deal with disagreement."
No, it has to be stopped. Otherwise, all we're doing is encouraging bad behavior.
In addition, most bully victims don't stand up for themselves - which is why they're bully victims. I'm sure no one bullied you much after learning karate - did you have to use it or was the threat alone enough to keep bullies at bay?
But few victims are going to learn karate and beat the tar out of their tormentors. Most cases, they'll be bullied in school and that might lead to a pattern of victimhood whereby they end up being bullied at work, easily manipulated by friends, and a sucker for frauds, confidence men, and tricksters. After all, SOMEone out there keeps falling for the Nigerian Prince scam or they wouldn't keep doing it.
I'm confident that bully victims will face a lot of various challenges as they go through school; normal life can teach kids how to deal with disagreement - and in some cases, abuse. But if a bully keeps pushing you down the stairs between classes, you aren't really going to learn much about how to deal with abuse. For that, you need counseling, not a good bully who provides learning experiences.
1. All of the school security in the world would be ineffective if a shooter stood (or was parked) outside the buildings and started shooting in through the windows, or at the playground.
2. With the advent of in-car movies, headunits equipped with video screens, and navigation/music/entertainment systems built into the dashboard, cell phones are just one of many possible devices that cause distraction, yet cell phones are the only distraction that is banned.
3. If TSA was a necessary evil, they'd have caught the underwear bomber. Had it not been for his own ineptness, Northwest Airlines flight 253 would've exploded in the sky over Detroit on Christmas Day 2009.
1. Of course it wouldn't, unless they expand the secure area (which would work besides in the case of say the Texas sniper.) The NFL does that with the Super Bowl compared to regular games. But how far should we expand the secure area to?
2. I know in-car movies can be pretty dangerous, more so than music systems and navigation but cellphone use is far more common. That and you can use the phone for all of those. FYI a head-unit video screen wouldn't really effect the driver. I had a family friend drive me to aa campwhen watching one of these movies, that was a bit scary but luckily there was little traffic that day...
3. I don't know if it was the TSA being inept, malfunctions of the TSA scanning devices (at the time) or terrorism being one step ahead of the TSA. All of these options are possibilities in this situation or even combinations.
Any response to the idea that perhaps people could avoid speeding if they can notify their destination that they are running late?
I wonder if that would really prevent them from speeding? I think speedsters will speed, regardless. Anyway, cell phones have certainly conditioned us to feel like we have to be communicating and available immediately, at a moment's notice..... didn't used to be that way.
It's impossible to "over-compensate" because no school will ever be able to totally stamp out bullying. Nor can authority figures stand aside while bullying is taking place, thinking, "Well, I stopped two instances of bullying yesterday, so I guess I'll let this bullying incident go so the victim can learn to deal with disagreement."
No, it has to be stopped. Otherwise, all we're doing is encouraging bad behavior.
In addition, most bully victims don't stand up for themselves - which is why they're bully victims. I'm sure no one bullied you much after learning karate - did you have to use it or was the threat alone enough to keep bullies at bay?
But few victims are going to learn karate and beat the tar out of their tormentors. Most cases, they'll be bullied in school and that might lead to a pattern of victimhood whereby they end up being bullied at work, easily manipulated by friends, and a sucker for frauds, confidence men, and tricksters. After all, SOMEone out there keeps falling for the Nigerian Prince scam or they wouldn't keep doing it.
I'm confident that bully victims will face a lot of various challenges as they go through school; normal life can teach kids how to deal with disagreement - and in some cases, abuse. But if a bully keeps pushing you down the stairs between classes, you aren't really going to learn much about how to deal with abuse. For that, you need counseling, not a good bully who provides learning experiences.
Well there is that with some bullying victims being natural victims all over BUT we must remember that it goes beyond that the way it is today. Because of lawsuits, we now have to beware of fighting back and having to step in when you fight back from bullying. That and not all bullying is physical. I mean if you believe in libertarianism and the NAP, you likely think that verbal abuse is permissable and not able to fight back with because one isn't truly threatened with words.
Your status tag says "left wing Democrat". I wish more left wing Democrats thought like you!
Thanks. I support rules that benefit real people, not just the people making them and major business entities. As for being a left-wing Democrat I regularly urinate on and burn flags, disrupt meetings by yelling "no justice no peace" or "hands up don't shoot."
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Originally Posted by blisterpeanuts
I'm going to add: I think a lot of the reason for all these ridiculous rules and regs boils down to two simple things: lawyers and insurance. Without threat of lawsuits, bureaucrats would be slightly more relaxed.
I think lawsuits and insurance are an after-the-fact rationalization. I think the first instinct whenever there is an atrocity such as Sandy Hook or September 11 is "we have to do something about...." There is little or no thought given as to whether the actions will do any good or whether their cost is justified by benefit. Also the only cost they consider is the governmental cost of implementation. They don't consider the public's wasted time.
Quote:
Originally Posted by blisterpeanuts
My kid's elementary school is like a locked-down prison. Parents can't go inside; we can enter one side of the building (used to be either side), wait in this crappy little anteroom to either be buzzed in or just have to stand there like a delivery person. God forbid we should be wandering the halls of our own child's school.
EXCELLENT POST!!!! The OP REALLY NEEDS TO TURN OFF Faux News !!
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Originally Posted by Shirina
"Back in the day" eh? Well ... "back in the day" people had to wait to arrive at their destination - or pull over and use a payphone - to talk to friends and colleagues while driving. And guess what, everyone survived and money was still made. Better still, "back in the day," people weren't killed by people who think responding to texts is the most important thing on earth no matter how banal and meaningless the conversation. Yeah because, "OMG, the woman ahead of me in line has awesome boobs!" is worth risking your life, and the lives of others, just so you can respond immediately while you're doing 55 on a busy, heavily-trafficked, urban four-lane with stop lights and cars that frequently make sudden left-hand turns. I rue the day when people became so arrogant that they actually began believing that everyone else gives a damn about reading live, up-to-the-minute broadcasts about their boring, work-a-day lives. And now we have to risk our lives to hear about what someone had for dinner or how their kid scored a touchdown.
Yep, "back in the day," people had patience ... and USUALLY by the time they reached a telephone, all of those supposedly "cool" and "awesome" and "newsworthy" things they were going to tell their friend had been forgotten, leaving only the important things.
I love technology. I really do. But social media and texting represent two of the worst things about technology. Most of us have been trained to exhibit a Pavlovian response to telephones. Just like the drooling dog, when we hear a bell, we HAVE to pick up that phone. Now, with 24/7 phone access, we spend more time talking to people on phones than we do talking to people face to face. I remember seeing a small group of friends eating together at a restaurant - and fully half of them were talking on phones, paying more attention to the people who aren't there than the people who are. It's pretty pathetic when the way to socialize and talk to friends is by NOT going to the party.
A "one-off" incident? There have been 74 school shootings SINCE Sandy Hook. I can only imagine how many there have been before. And it's not just about catching adults and parents coming through the door, but also catching kids sneaking out, often to sell drugs or to bring in a weapon. Schools with known gang activity are especially vulnerable. At any rate, how often do you have to visit your son's school while school is in session? One or twice a school year? I fail to see how a very rare hassle can compare to preventing or deterring your son's school from being the NEXT Sandy Hook. You ought to be glad your kid is protected instead of attending a school left wide open where any whackjob with a gun can just waltz in.
Once again, this isn't "back in the day" anymore. It sucks that times had to change in this fashion, but they have. I'm sure most of us wish it were still "back in the day" because it was far more innocent and somewhat safer, but alas, it's today, not yesterday.
You're being somewhat myopic on this issue. Security at school entrances isn't just about catching a Sandy Hook type killer. These days, schools have to worry about everything from international terrorism to distraught parents seeking to abduct their children after losing a custody battle. Something about American culture breeds psychotic behavior far more than any other Western nation and we're paying the price for that.
BUT ... just because I disagree with you on a couple of things, that doesn't mean I don't agree on a more general level. There are an awful lot of stupid, even borderline paranoid, rules and regulations that serve little or no purpose and yet hassle, delay, and annoy us to no end. Then, to add insult to injury, half the time we end up paying an extra fee for the privilege of being hassled.
And yeah, I don't like arbitrarily slow speed limits, either. I live in a very rural environment and it seems like there's a 2 mile stretch of 35 and 45 mph speed zones for every intersection with a house on it. Seems like it takes forever to get anywhere - and anyone who has lived in such a rural setting knows how driving long distances is a given of rural life.
"You're being somewhat myopic on this issue. Security at school entrances isn't just about catching a Sandy Hook type killer. These days, schools have to worry about everything from international terrorism to distraught parents seeking to abduct their children after losing a custody battle. Something about American culture breeds psychotic behavior far more than any other Western nation and we're paying the price for that".
The mass media is a leading reason for psychotic behavior. One school shooting endlessly focused upon for months, will give birth to copycats. They started with Columbine... But how many shootings did we have before?
And schools aren't prepared to deal with distraught parents. That should be solved in the family environment. Today parents are forcing schools to deal with endless issues they aren't ready to deal with. Principles and superintendents shifted from educating to public relations and being lawyers.
"You're being somewhat myopic on this issue. Security at school entrances isn't just about catching a Sandy Hook type killer. These days, schools have to worry about everything from international terrorism to distraught parents seeking to abduct their children after losing a custody battle. Something about American culture breeds psychotic behavior far more than any other Western nation and we're paying the price for that".
The mass media is a leading reason for psychotic behavior. One school shooting endlessly focused upon for months, will give birth to copycats. They started with Columbine... But how many shootings did we have before?
And schools aren't prepared to deal with distraught parents. That should be solved in the family environment. Today parents are forcing schools to deal with endless issues they aren't ready to deal with. Principles and superintendents shifted from educating to public relations and being lawyers.
Don't you see the difference in pattern? Most historical shootings targeted one teacher or the principal. It was personal. Today we are talking about massacres.
1) How many people nationwide knew about an incident which took place in Pennsilvenia or Nebraska?
2) What was the public reaction to those events? How many schools baricaded themselves, suspended recess and did not allow children to play outside before 1980? How many schools, principles and superintendents were sued and held personally responsble?
3) How many mass shootings like Sandyhook or Virginia Tech took place before 1999?
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I had a family friend drive me to aa campwhen watching one of these movies, that was a bit scary but luckily there was little traffic that day...
