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Why does this silly argument about participation trophies have to do with anything? I received a participation trophy for playing tee-ball in 1976. Kids like shiny things and to feel included. It's simply a memento, nothing more. By the time kids are in middle school if not way earlier, they know the difference between a Certificate of Participation and an actual merit award. I received versions of both as a child, and I was never confused about what they meant. Today's kids aren't confused about it either.
We could write books about the possibilities - and many of the theories would have some truth to them.
At the same time, mass communication has been in force for 100+ years. People knew what happened 1/2 way around the world within minutes (radio) or hours (newspapers). Even in the mid-1800's the telegraph made it so people knew stuff quite quickly.
So - did lots of people do what Capone and his fella did? After all, you could get a tommy-gun and roll down the streets and just shoot...and get away with it.
Now - that might be an important point right there. Back in the day, you COULD get away with many crimes. No security cameras, no fax machines or computers, not even a good database of fingerprints.
A big difference today is that murderers and other attention-getters have no intention of getting away with their crimes. They seek death (in most cases) or capture.
That makes it even more puzzling.
There is always the tendency to blame things on mass culture, media, morals, video games, pelvis-grinding music, pot, drinking, the KKK or who or whatever is handy. My "theory" is that we humans are great at making the simple...complex. My best example is Wall Street. A person (say, even Donald Trump) could put their money into an index fund and be worth billions more than they are worth by making their lives 100X more complicated. Look at all the charts and the theories and the brokers and the sales people....all like a bunch of Fortune Tellers. Superstition.
Same goes with this subject. Monday morning QBing allows us to make out theories fit perfectly.
Do these theories offer a solution? Not iMHO. We are not going to stop the internet. We are not going to stop hate radio, hate tv or hate communications.
So people will come up with all these crazy-arsed ideas...none of which are practical or will be done, when the simpler answers are right in front of their face. Should a 17 year old have access to the guns and ammo of his father? Should the Vegas shooter have been allowed to buy higher-power ammo which killed from hundreds of yards with a single unaimed bullet? Should he have been able to buy bump stocks...or even own multiple rifles?
All questions which may have more relevance than closing down the interweb.
As I understand it, bump stocks can be made by individuals very easily. They sell them for convenience. I used to be on the gun control wagon, but now realize it’s not possible in this country with so many guns, porous borders, and a huge black market already in place that could easily revamp to include weapons. We don’t live on an island.
There are only two solutions that could work, and that is for the media to stop sensationalizing these events and for schools to harden their security. I know it won’t stop it completely, but our children deserve as much security as a courthouse or an airport.
Why does this silly argument about participation trophies have to do with anything? I received a participation trophy for playing tee-ball in 1976. Kids like shiny things and to feel included. It's simply a memento, nothing more. By the time kids are in middle school if not way earlier, they know the difference between a Certificate of Participation and an actual merit award. I received versions of both as a child, and I was never confused about what they meant. Today's kids aren't confused about it either.
I agree. Participation trophies are not that new of a phenomenon.
School shootings are different now because the internet can allow these kids to self radicalize. In almost all mass shootings in schools post-Columbine the kids doing it had read about and watched hours of footage of past shootings. In the article posted, it said one of them referred to Harris and the guy from Virginia Tech as “brothers-in-arms.”
Right, give the shooter no publicity whatsoever and announce this policy to the public. Maybe even a declare a total news blackout. I don't know if this would work or not, but they need to try something.
That’s impossible. It couldn’t be done in a free society. In fact, you shouldn’t want it to happen. That’s incredibly Orwellian. News blackout?
That’s very unamerican. Forget about it. This is the United States. We don’t go for that stuff. If we ever do, I sure as hell don’t want to live here.
Most likely the case I am sure that is not contributing to the mass shooting's, but in a small way maybe it is.
We as a people are still not doing our children any favors if we are not teaching how to loose, as well as how to win.
We are not doing our children any favors with participation trophies. In the working world, at best when times are good if you are just barely contributing to the work flow, you may be able to keep your job. But as soon as times get tough good luck on keeping your job if you are not productive.
Children need to be taught that only through hard work will they succeeded in life.
I agree that the things you are touching on are contributing to bratty kids and an overall weaker society, but I don't see any correlation with those things and mass shootings.
Giving kids participation trophy or not teaching them the value of hard work may create a self entitled perpetual loser unprepared for the real world, but I certainly don't believe crappy parenting leads to a kids massacring multiple classmates with little to no real motive.
I can see the points you are making being related to kids behavior in inner cities where kids get caught up in gangs or turn to crime, but not teaching your boys to be men isn't going to turn them into psychopathic mass murderers like the one's being discussed in this thread.
That’s impossible. It couldn’t be done in a free society. In fact, you shouldn’t want it to happen. That’s incredibly Orwellian. News blackout?
That’s very unamerican. Forget about it. This is the United States. We don’t go for that stuff. If we ever do, I sure as hell don’t want to live here.
Silencing the press creates a far bigger issue than mass shootings. I would rather live in a country where mass shootings happen on a daily basis than a country without a free press. Our problems with these shooting are real, but they are minuscule compared to the problems that take place in countries like Venezuela or the former Soviet Union.
That’s impossible. It couldn’t be done in a free society. In fact, you shouldn’t want it to happen. That’s incredibly Orwellian. News blackout?
That’s very unamerican. Forget about it. This is the United States. We don’t go for that stuff. If we ever do, I sure as hell don’t want to live here.
Not a blackout, just back to the way they used to treat these things. They reported on it, but not wall to wall coverage for weeks, examining every thought and post of the shooter. I don’t think it’s possible to completely erase the information, nor should they, but they could refuse to name the shooter like they refuse to name rape accusers. Remember how they used to do that and it discouraged reporting so the media collectively decided to not name the accuser unless he or she wanted to be named?
but I certainly don't believe crappy parenting leads to a kids massacring multiple classmates with little to no real motive.
Oh I totally believe it. There are alot of parents out there that cant even outsmart their kids when it comes to sneaking around. Usually because theyre too tired from work, bills, tired of raising kids, whatever. Everyone wants a break, and no one wants to believe their kid could be weird. In the majority of the shooters that Ive read about, the parents either turned a blind eye to their weird kids, or just were not sharp enough to notice their kids was weird. Youd think people would be hyper aware especially with the last 15 shootings since 2018 started, but I guess theres too many kids out there for all of the parents to be able to keep an eye out.
Quote:
Originally Posted by katygirl68
Not a blackout, just back to the way they used to treat these things. They reported on it, but not wall to wall coverage for weeks, examining every thought and post of the shooter.
I thought about that, but It'll never happen. Even if the news blanks out the name, the kids from the school will spread the name on social media, and it will spread faster than the news. Also, even if the news doesnt name the shooter, the shooter will get off on the publicity of his handiwork showing up on all the news outlets. He'll be happy he caused the devastation, the next shooter will see the devastation and get off on wanting to do the same thing. Not only that, people need the thoughts and agenda of the shooter known so they can see if their kid is looking like he could be a shooter. Unfortunately, I dont have faith in that, based on my first paragraph.
The government (ATF) does need to get out of the pocket of the NRA and such groups and take care of the black market, get the better gun control laws, that all I can think of. I dont see any possibly way that kids wont isolate each other in schools to cause the weird kids to get weirder. Its natural for people to want to build groups.
No one wants to be the person to tell people "If youre not going to teach your kid how to be fully social and not weird, dont have kids".
No one wants to hear "If youre not going to teach your kid how to be fully inclusive of kids that they dont think are cool the hang with, dont have kids".
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