Abrignac wrote:What is your plan then to stop school shootings?
School shootings seem like a the-whole-is-greater-than-the-sum-of-its- parts kind of phenomenon.
Some parts & solutions as I see it:
Digital age bullying is like a curse for kids. After being mocked ad nauseum on Twitter, Facebook or Youtube some kids crack. They kill themselves or other students. Their ill, adolescent minds figure life is over anyway, so..
Maybe the above mentioned media companies can help?
News/Media attention: socially isolated kids idolize guys like Harris and Klebold from Columbine. They're martyrs to these mentally ill kids.
I'd restrict coverage of shootings, don't let it become a circus with the hope that it takes some of the glory out of it. Publicity passes for esteem to sick minds.
Psychological intervention: school shrinks have to more proactive. Its a known thing that people with serious mental issues really relish an opportunity to sit across from a socially accepted authority figure, especially a shrink.
Teachers need to get mental health training. We always hear that there were signs, but only after the fact, that a kid was becoming homicidal: poems, posts, drawings, statements to friends etc. Low achievement, chronic absence, disruptive behavior, social isolation, sleeping in class, and rapid weight gain or loss are symptoms students, teachers, and guidance counselors should be on the lookout for. Wearing long sleeved shirts and sweaters in warmer weather may also be meant to hide self mutilation or rapid weight loss.
Tighter oversight and followup needs exploring. Weapon training for teachers might be a good idea, not sure.
There are a chit ton of reasons for school shootings. We can't be in some kid's home to see that some dad is a prick and abuses his family.
Some shootings were gang related. What approach would need to be taken there? Some had to do with love triangles.
Lot of members here make the valid point that when "we" were growing up these things didn't happen. There were guns. There were bullies etc.
So what's changed? A lot.
We've, as a society, become blatantly enamored with violence.
It's entertainment.
It's only natural that our kids inherited that. And took it to the next level.
Short question, very long answer.