School Shooting

[moon_lit_tears]

My last post on this subject....

 

You guys must love your Guns and your god an awful lot.....

 

Meant to include this too.

 

I have changed my views over the past two or so years.

 

I'm so sick of hearing about god in this situation. If god was a loving god like people said....why 20 kids lost their lives over this. Why those 6 adults lost their lives. What kind of person can sit there and say how loving god is and not feel betrayed? If god was loving this innocent children would be sitting at home with their families right now happy, not laying somewhere dead.

[fullMETAL]

The networks couldn't even get other facts straight besides whether it was Adam or Ryan, like whether he was 20 or 24, and stuff.

[James Casey]

Regardless of personal beliefs, I've just seen a list of the people who died - the children were all 6 or 7 years old. One of the teachers (at least) died specifically because she put her body between the shooter and her children.

 

As the father of a 3 year old, I can't even begin to imagine how the parents of those children feel. It's every parent's worst nightmare, no question, that something could happen and they not be there.

 

That someone can do this is unthinkable to me; That it's happened time and again is just proof that I'll never understand this world we live in.

 

Something was not right with this man that this happened, but the only thing I know for sure is that families have lost children, brothers, sisters, parents, whatever.

 

I could say that in the UK these things don't happen. Sadly, they do - less frequently, no question, but every few years we have someone take out a gun and start shooting for reasons that only make sense to them.

 

The mind boggles. The heart breaks. About all I can do is give my daughter an extra hug, and next time I take her to nursery pause and think for a moment... Could it happen here?

[ubernoob]

I don't want to go too far into this subject, as I have on Twitter, but taking away guns is not the answer.

 

Look where a lot of these shootings happen: in no guns allowed areas. They go in absolutely knowing they will have no opposition until help arrives. Chicago has the most strict gun laws, yet look at the rates there.

 

A 1997 U.S. Justice Department survey of 14,285 state prison inmates found that among those inmates who carried a firearm during the offense for which they were sent to jail, 0.7% obtained the firearm at a gun show, 1% at a flea market, 3.8% from a pawn shop, 8.3% from a retail store, 39.2% through an illegal/street source, and 39.6% through family or friends.

 

The issue in the US lies in the background checks. If anyone wants to look at objective facts, I suggest http://www.justfacts.com/guncontrol.asp

 

Also, look at how banning alcohol/drugs has worked in the United States. In a nation built upon freedom, socialism, gun control and similar ideas is not the answer.

[Remianen]

While I agree the name should not have been put out there till they knew for sure the media had every right getting that story out ASAP. Maybe it was for money...,name ONE person who doesn't do what they do for money? Money or no I don't disagree with them running the story as fast as they did. I'd have done it if I was there.

 

So, facts be damned, you just want to get SOMETHING out there for people to chew on?

 

See, the difference between people "doing what they do for money" should be obvious. Would you teach your children in a crisis to just make stuff up and as long as it's close to the truth, it's okay?

 

Maybe this is an old fashioned viewpoint, but the only thing a man (or woman) has is their name. It should mean something. For most people, it does. If the accusation reaches a billion people and the apology reaches a hundred million, that's okay, right? I mean, it's vitally important to get something out there, whether it's the truth or not doesn't matter, right?

 

A cursory Google search for a surname and a town should not be the basis of a report widely considered (by virtue of its proliferation and source) to be factual. This was completely and totally irresponsible.

 

fullMETAL, the reason why they couldn't get their stories straight is because they were all parroting each other. When the FACTS came out, they had to figure out what was right and what was wrong. Ryan is 24, Adam was 20. When you put a 24 year old's name out as the suspect and then you're given the facts about a 20 year old, now you have to do that annoying thing called fact-checking. You know, the stuff they were supposed to be doing from the beginning?

 

This was a tragedy, no doubt. But I have a serious problem with people using this tragedy as a means of destroying someone's name (and by proxy, their lives) for profit, using some flimsy excuse like "needing to get information out". How about waiting until the law enforcement authorities get the facts out? Oh no, they can't do that or else someone will beat them to "the scoop". In these kinds of situations, people are often looking for something to target their animosity at, if only for venting purposes. They don't understand and they just want to lash out as a means of relieving their frustration. Go look at Ryan Lanza's Facebook page (assuming it's still up). Nobody's going to apologize to him for what they posted on his page. In this day and age, employers do cyber background checks (or hire firms to do so). These things don't get wiped away (thanks Google!) so this could haunt this guy for the rest of his life, when he had nothing to do with it.

 

Get it now?

[BHK1978]

I have to agree with Remi on this one, as a former media student the first thing we were told is that the onus is on the media to get the facts straight before we report the story. The problem is nowadays the media does not seem to be fact checking. It is all about getting to the scene first, getting your coverage out there first, to hell with the facts of the case or the story.

 

Heck some stations use the unfiltered Twitter or Youtube as a source. Remi is right; Ryan should sue whichever media outlet it was that put his name out there. Yes I know his name has been cleared now but the stigma will still be around him probably for the rest of his life because his name was the first presented to the public.

[bigtplaystew]

In a 24/7 news world it's all about the rush to be the first to break the information, rather than the accuracy of the information.

[shamelessposer]

For thirty years, this country has been ignoring its mentally ill, and even as crime has gone down the number of spree shootings has gone up. This sort of thing is going to be a problem until mental health resources are easier to obtain than firearms. We need to either make it far, far easier to get help, or far harder to get guns. One treats the disease, and the other the symptom.

[bigtplaystew]

Yea I'm noticing today the righties are all going after video games and movies and music again.... which is absurd and laughable.

 

Then the lefties can't go 15 minutes without gun control conversations. It's crazy.

 

The problem is mental illness. Mental illness causes people to kill other people, at least at this level. Not video games. Not guns. Not rappers. That's actually extra crazy and out of touch because music is probably at the furthest point away from violence it's been in several decades. If it's not a love song nowadays it's generally about partying. The "Gangsta rap" days were boring 15 years ago at this point.

 

There's no "solution". Yes, I think there should be a call to recognize true mental illness but we also can't lock up every psychotic kid in the world because they MAY do something evil someday. Now you're bordering on "thought crime". There are no answers. There is no golden ticket to fix this problem. Taking away guns as I've said before only serves to hurt people who wish to follow the law. People who wish to break the law will have guns, and if you think in any way that makes you SAFER... well... I don't know what to tell you.

[shamelessposer]

You don't need to lock up sick people for forever. A small chunk of the population really needs to be kept under observation for that long, but for most people, the psych community has other answers. Pills! Counselors! Outpatient care! These are things that cost money, but I'm personally willing to shell out a few bucks to keep the next few school shootings from happening, and any worthwhile person reading this feels the same way.

 

For whatever reason, we as Americans are more likely than people of other nations to shoot up schools and workplaces. Per capita, we shoot each other more than the people of nearly any other industrialized nation. Either we're doing something wrong, which means we can fix it, or we as a nation are incurably sick and it's all downhill from here. Looking at those two ideas, only one is a useful position to hold.

[LoganRodzen]

It's sad that the only way things get done is for something horrible to happen first. Mental illness is a serious problem. Spending needs to be increased and not decreased when it comes to mental health services. I work for an agency that operates residential group homes. I work with clients who have MR and traumatic brain injuries. There is one group home that houses clients who have committed crimes. Some are dangerous, others are harmless and their cognitive ability is why they committed such crimes.

 

I know my state has cut the budget on mental health services. Things need to be done to assist parents who have children with disabilities. Depending on diagnosis it can be extremely overwhelming. I don't know very much about the Lanza family but I know a lot of families have an impossible time raising a child with a disability. It's a full time job.

[Arrows]

You don't need to lock up sick people for forever. A small chunk of the population really needs to be kept under observation for that long, but for most people, the psych community has other answers. Pills! Counselors! Outpatient care! These are things that cost money, but I'm personally willing to shell out a few bucks to keep the next few school shootings from happening, and any worthwhile person reading this feels the same way.

 

For whatever reason, we as Americans are more likely than people of other nations to shoot up schools and workplaces. Per capita, we shoot each other more than the people of nearly any other industrialized nation. Either we're doing something wrong, which means we can fix it, or we as a nation are incurably sick and it's all downhill from here. Looking at those two ideas, only one is a useful position to hold.

 

The reason is actually quite simple.

 

You mention ways to care for people with these illnesses that lead to such things, but the problem stems from the fact that 98% of parents don't care enough about the kids they give birth to.

 

The entire country could chip in to help fund programs to help people like this, but when parents have NO IDEA the kids are screwed in the head, they're not going to get any help.

 

I'd be willing to bet research into the parents involvement in the kids life in any other comparable country will see very different results.

[Astil]

http://www.wfsb.com/story/20358667/bristol-student-arrested-for-making-school-threat

 

For those who don't know I live in Bristol, CT. I am too old to know this person but... man... people. To think of it in you're hometown.

 

And Newton is thirty minutes away. I wanted to be a teacher so badly in college. I have so many emotions I cannot even relay them. Most of all is great sadness for all the loss of life.