School Shootings When I was Younger

They just didn't happen. And we had lots of guns in our home too, we actually went to events called skeet shooting, hunting, target practice as a family, and learned how to use them properly, but there is something far more sinister involved here. Bonding, love, and attention.

We actually had a family unit back then, someone was home nurturing the children, giving them the love and care they needed to grow up, and actually function properly in society.

Today we have latch-key, adderall, notes on fridge, hot-pocket maybe I'll be home at 8pm children, because our society embraces this madness. It will continue until people take responsibility for how they bring their kids up, and admit there isn't proper love, attention and nurturing in the house hold.

Kids don't want bling, a huge house, tons of money for future rubbish, they want love, and attention from their parents in their formidable years.

I remember watching an entire family on their phones surfing and texting the internet, without saying one word to each other. Ah how family time has changed these days.

If we haven't noticed our society is extremely disconnected. Stop and look around how many people are constantly on their I-phone's, computers, then couple that with sleep, work, two parents working full-time, and everything else, so where do the children fit in?

Even though many people ego's won't allow them to believe they live in, and contribute to a screwed up system, they are the cause and effect they see currently.

We are absolutely broken and going into a deeper hole faster than we think.

There are many factors involved in our instability, but the main ones I have already stated above, and until we start to acknowledge these issues on an individual level, we'll never get to a collective solution.

a reply to: Realtruth

There is something going on and it isn't easy access to guns... I think it is the combination of broken homes/families, video games, drugs, and social media.

I grew up in 70s/80s and don't ever recall any school shootings much less any kid ever threatening to shoot up a school despite the bullying and fighting that we all did as kids. I grew up in the south and guns were everywhere. Pretty much every house had a gun in a closet. Gun racks in the back of pickup truck windows( 'member those!?). Every kid had 22s, pellet, and BB guns. We certainly had our fair share of thugs shooting at each other over street/gang sh*t, but no one really expected any kid to flip out and shoot up a school.

At worst, when there was the weirdo kid at school who was a social outcast, we joked he'd be a serial killer.

Anytime you heard about a mass shooting it was usually related to a fired employee at some plant or post office (Hence going postal as a meme) or domestic violence related. I recall the Luby's shooting in Texas. A McDonald's shooting. Colin Ferguson shooting up the long island rail.

School shootings became a thing after Columbine. Maybe the press coverage kind of planted an idea in the heads of the weirdos to make it a "thing"

originally posted by: Edumakated
a reply to: Realtruth

School shootings became a thing after Columbine. Maybe the press coverage kind of planted an idea in the heads of the weirdos to make it a "thing"

Not buying it totally, but it may contribute.

It takes years of neglect, lack of nurturing, and getting bounced around in our F'd society to make these kids snap. Children come into this world as a blank slate, what we write upon them is the story they become later on.

I think there problem is social media honestly. We no longer create meaningful relationships.

I went to High School in the mid 90's and I remember two instances where one kid (a cowboy type guy) was in health class bent over and a pistol fell out of his jacket and he quickly picked it up before anyone saw. Another account I witnessed during class change were the hallway was full of student and a teacher told three kids to stop being loud, one boy flipped around and pull out a pistol pointed it at her and said what real loud, then walk off laughing. So guns in schools have been around for a while.

So I guess I am lucky I survived High School.

~Morpheus

Perhaps high schools are part the problem given that it is the high schools that are shot up.

I think it has some, even if a little, to do also with how society nickle and dimes everyone (in reference of the family unit) Used to be the average father could work while the mom stayed at home (or vice versa) and they still were able to live with some tiny comforts. Now a days both parents have to work, sometimes both have to do overtime each week, and they still live rushed, anxious, and paycheck to paycheck.

I've been trying to look at that "both parents have to work to live" as an obstacle that I need to be smart enough to get around, just haven't been able to jog my brain up to that level yet. Because obviously some people are able to have one spouse working while the other stays at home and does the shopping and care taking and cleaning etc.....

I've said before I wish we were wealthy enough to home-school our child just until he's old enough to recognize and understand the dangers he could face in "the real world" out of our reach and protection- but not just for that reason but also so that I could have more time or one of us anyways could have more time to be there with our child to watch him grow to understand him to hear him, to influence him. It's hard to do these things when there is only one party involved, or when there are two parties and they both work constantly.

Grandpa was born in 39. He said all the boys took their guns to school when he was young. In fact he said most 12 year old boys up in Michigan had guns. Their shop teacher would lock them all in his trunk during the school day and they would get them back on their way out. One time they welded his trunk shut hahaha. It's just weird to me the way things seem to have changed. Being that I was born in 91, I feel things have changed still but clearly I have no idea what it was like back then other than word of mouth.

-Alee

originally posted by: Realtruth

originally posted by: Edumakated
a reply to: Realtruth

School shootings became a thing after Columbine. Maybe the press coverage kind of planted an idea in the heads of the weirdos to make it a "thing"

Not buying it totally, but it may contribute.

It takes years of neglect, lack of nurturing, and getting bounced around in our F'd society to make these kids snap. Children come into this world as a blank slate, what we write upon them is the story they become later on.

It planted the idea that you could shoot up a school. Yes, there are other factors, but in a way, all the shootings at schools are just copy cats. Kind of like how all of a sudden terrorist figured out they could use cars as weapons so we had this spate of trucks/cars running over groups of people.

I think this monologue from fight club explains a lot.

originally posted by: NerdGoddess
Being that I was born in 91, I feel things have changed still but clearly I have no idea what it was like back then other than word of mouth.

-Alee

Alee I hear you and understand that things are different, I'm actually from Michigan, and was born in the 60's, so I understand your families history well.

I'm not sure how we can slow this chaotic train-wreck down, but somehow we need to, because if we don't it will happen on it's own, and the early implications are surfacing now. ( Shooting shootings, etc )

In my opinion self-empowerment only comes from taking action ourselves for our family, because waiting for these A-holes, in our government, to come up with a solution, is like betting on a one-legged man, in an ass kicking contest.

Thanks for you input it's greatly appreciated, and heartfelt.

a reply to: Realtruth


One thing you said did hit home to me...I should be upstairs with my
husband rather than playing on my computer.

originally posted by: MorpheusUSA
I went to High School in the mid 90's and I remember two instances where one kid (a cowboy type guy) was in health class bent over and a pistol fell out of his jacket and he quickly picked it up before anyone saw. Another account I witnessed during class change were the hallway was full of student and a teacher told three kids to stop being loud, one boy flipped around and pull out a pistol pointed it at her and said what real loud, then walk off laughing. So guns in schools have been around for a while.

So I guess I am lucky I survived High School.

~Morpheus

I remember a thug brought a pistol to school when I was in high school. I don't remember all the details, but someone told on him. He brought it to "show off" and had it in his locker. The school found out and confiscated it. Pretty sure he got expelled or suspended.

Anyway, the point though it didn't make the local news, there was no out cry, or anything. People were just kind of like "What a dumbass..."

There were no shootings at school when I was growing up either and both my Parents worked. I had a Grandmother who watched my siblings and I while our Parents were working. We had quality family time and meals were not interrupted with electronic devices of any kind.

Nurturing begins at home and should be continued throughout a child's school years, by the schools. Respect and a no bullying policy must be upheld at all times. Kids with mental health issues should be addressed as well. And for God's sake people, connect with others without your nose always stuck in a phone or computer.

originally posted by: mamabeth
a reply to: Realtruth


One thing you said did hit home to me...I should be upstairs with my
husband rather than playing on my computer.

Mama one of my main reasons for posting this was self-reflection, and thank you for acknowledging that. It's really hard for us to admit neglect, and disconnection these days. I'm not sure why, but I've been making an effort to keep myself aware of this as possible.

P.S. at first I read your post as, you needed to be upstairs playing with your husband, but I'm having a bit of dyslexic day. P:

a reply to: Realtruth

There was a shooting at my high school in the 80's. A white student who had issues with a black student. They called him Tweety..(nickname). He lived in my neighborhood and rode the bus to school with the gun. Right after class started, the alarms went off. He shot him right in front of the main office doors. Afterwards they caught him, he got life in prison.

It didn't stir racial tensions at the time. Everyone came together and tshirts were handed out with a white and black hand grasping each other. Airbrushed, cuz that was the style at the time. Anyway... If Tweety would have went to the school with a gun in this generation, i truly believe he would have kept shooting people.

My kids current high school also had a school shooting in the 70's.

originally posted by: Realtruth
Children come into this world as a blank slate, what we write upon them is the story they become later on.

Well said. Your OP was spot on. It sounds like we grew up in the same era......70's/80's.....so we have the same perspective. But because of what happened in Florida, it goes deeper than just the families, because family structures, or the lack thereof, make the society.

By all accounts, that kid didn't have a chance from day one. At least not in modern society. Had he grown up when we did, there were mechanisms still in place that would have helped him. Mechanisms that have since had their fundings cut, so they are no longer there to help. I knew, or knew of, a few kids like him when I was growing up. They didn't snap and go on killing sprees though. They had family structures and lived in towns where there were social programs to help. They had supprt and they had love.

This didn't have to happen. He always had mental health issues. There are paper trails to prove it. He was orphaned. He was adopted. His adoptive father died 10 years ago. His adoptive mother was the only family stucture keeping him together. She died last November of complications from the flu. 18 years old and effectively thrown to the wolves with mental issues, no family and no programs to help him. In this regard, you have to feel sorry for the guy. He tried to get help. This kid was a walking red flag most of his life and everyone basically turned a blind eye..

Yes, there are scores of other people in our society just like him. Out there lost with no support structures, no family, no love, just out there on an aimless drive........but they don't snap. So no, you can't really use that as an excuse, but you also cannot tell yourself that all those factors did not play a part in this. You have to be delusional not to connect those dots. This is where society itself needs to step up and own this kid. One institution can try help with what little money and resouces they have, fall short and then say "We tried. Not our problem anymore". The FBI can be can be called in because of FB posts that someone with the same name, and exact spelling of the name, posted about becoming a professional school shooter. They can look into it, say that can't prove it was him and say "We tried. Not our problem". The school can do what it can, expel him say "We tried. Not our problem".

Society failed him every step of the way because everyone passed the buck. Now here he is, in prison for the rest of his life, sorry, remorseful and broken as a result of the same society in which he lived. We shame ourselves by watching people like him live the way they do. And because he is in Florida, where if you kill someone they like to kill you right back, they are going to end up killing the very person they ignored and kept shuffling from one place to the next. I feel bad for the families who lost their kids. I feel bad for the kids who lived through this whose lives are never going to be the same. But that is the most f.....d part about all of this. Because like I said before, this didn't have to happen. Society has to do more. And while we're at it, make a list of every congressperson who throughout the years and decades kept voting to decrease spending on mental helath services, and make them pay for his incarceration. Ultimatly, they are the one's who put him there.

Did he have to kill 17 kids? No.

Did we as a society have to ignore him to where he thought that was the only option he had left to be recognized and therefor helped? NO.

If he has to take responsibility for what he did, so do we.

There are a lot of factors. Impossible to narrow it down but home life of course has a lot to do with it. Society in general.

We need to be fair though. People are fast to dog out parents for not being there and of course a lot are absent cause they are # parents.
A lot are absent though because they are single parents and/or they work 2 jobs or swings cause they need to support their kids.
I feel lucky that my wife does not have to work cause I can support us.

Not everyone is in that spot and not everyone sucks.

a reply to: Taupin Desciple

And there we have it.

We need to have support for children that are on their own. Our society moves so fast here in the USA, that we have lost consideration for our children, and I don't mean just our families, but extended families.

I remember those loner kids, in my neighborhood, the ones that had nothing, and were dirt poor. Some of these kids were the orphan types that had no family support, but the difference was their were plenty of stay home moms that took up the slack, and fed them, and gave them some attention.

Today everyone is so busy these kids are falling through the cracks, some end up in jail, some being sex trafficked, some dead, and some shooting up schools.

I'm not sure the violence in Hollywood, and the gaming community help either, especially for young developing minds we seem to glorify killing on many levels.

Thanks for the input, very well thought out too.

a reply to: Realtruth

We also had a fear of consequences for bad behavior! Something that doesn't exist in schools and at home today. Parents have lost their right to discipline their children. (The amount of dirty looks parents get in public places if they swat the butts of their children for poor behavior in public).

If children have no fear of consequences, what gives them time to pause and think of the possible consequences resulting from their poor behavior? Today more than ever, parents have become over protective and defend their child's poor and disruptive behavior.

a reply to: Realtruth

What ever the reason is we have done a great job ignoring it...2016 year for Chicago's murder rate was around 760...not much outcry for gun control by the media then...remove the lobbyist from the hill...that's a start..