1ºWe, Americans of all ages, are living in a nightmare. We know that we're not safe anywhere but we push it down so that we can get out of bed and survive another day.
I teach middle school kids and two weeks ago we had our annual meeting with our SRO. She works with 13 schools split between two cities. Yes, cities. She isn't on campus until there is a problem.
She showed us a few traumatic videos from The Sandy Hook Promise (which I had viewed on my own time because I donate to the org) and she said, "it's no longer IF there is a shooter on your campus but WHEN ..."
As someone who faced gun violence 35 yrs ago, it's difficult to keep a "when" mindset and still feel healthy and happy. I have traveled to other countries and I definitely feel safer there.
We've let the crazies take over here.
2ºMy grief at these ongoing tragedies has moved from incredible sadness to raging anger! When is this country going to do something about all these guns so freely circulating in society? How does a 15 year old get his hands on these weapons? How can someone, a friend or family member not see that this kid was a walking time bomb? Too many people in this country have a gun fetish. It's time we faced this embarrassing reality. The necessity of staging active shooter drills in schools only shows how sick this nation is when it comes to guns. Let's start with banning all AR-15 assault type weapons. A background check should be mandatory for ALL gun purchases, and this should include removing any and all loopholes at gun shows. The background check should not only include any criminal history, it should also include a mandatory mental evaluation. Other nations like Canada, England, Japan, and Australia, have more restrictive gun laws. And as a result, they have a fraction of the gun homicide rates, per capita, than does the United States. And mass shootings, which seem to be happening here every other week, are unheard of in those other nations. For everyone who claims to be pro life, why don't you actually do something to protect that life you claim to value and act on gun legislation? Otherwise you prove yourselves once again to be a bunch of hypocrites!
3ºUnc Phil No they wont. Kids are being charged as adults all over the place. A teenager does not have the fully developed frontal lobe to make these decisions the same way an adult does. Kids that age have no concept of long term consequences. They think theyll be glorified. They want to be famous and that desire is what drives their actions. They're not afraid of life in prison. Has the death penalty stopped murders? No. What about the kids who know they're going to kill themselves anyway? We need to get the guns away from them. That's the only way to stop the shootings.
4ºJoey Cattivo Chambers The US is the only advanced country in the world that experiences mass shootings on a daily basis. We hold the title for the the greatest number of annual gun deaths, globally. Other more civilized countries, have effective gun laws that prevent frequent mass shootings. There are more guns in the US than there are people & only 1/3 of our population owns all those guns. The data proves it. Seems we have one choice. Either we enact gun laws with real teeth & eliminate the sales of military style weapons to our unstable gun nut population, or we continue to accept daily mass murders as the status quo. There seems to be no other choice. If we as a country, are unwilling or unable to make the necessary changes to alter our gun laws to protect the majority from rampant gun violence, how does that councide with our own opinion that the US is the "greatest" country in the world, when we're too weak to pass common sense gun regulation to save the lives of children & innocents? The current system obviously isn't working; what's your answer?
5ºRick Anthony This doesnt have DIDLY with guns. Guns have ALWAYS BEEN THERE. Heck kids had more access to guns in the 50's-90's
This is clearly Too much Helicopter Parenting. Too much INSTANT GRATIFICATION. Kids are not allowed to fight it out anymore. Social interactions are not fostered and kids have no outlet for their frustration.
!6 year olds in the 80's had the maturity of a 22-24 year old today.
That is what is going on.
Stop comparing us to other countries that do not have our Constitutional Rights. Start looking at the problem at the root cause, not the symptom.
6ºMargaretha MacLeod
You’re basing your claim of indoctrination on a 100-year-old work of fiction?
No. One teacher teaching other teachers down to today.
Upton was more than an author.
Here is more I share with Cathy Ford Underwood
May I add:
Upton Sinclair Was a Socialist. So I think Upton knew when he wrote about the Bolshevik teaching in a college in "Oil".
What do all teachers have in common? A college degree?
"Upton Sinclair Was a Socialist Candidate Who Succeeded Through Failure"
"A self-proclaimed socialist decides to run for high office. And, for practical political reasons, he becomes a DEMOCRAT to do so."
Hmmmmm. What to think about that?
Elisabeth Warren? Bernie? Any others we can name?
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez?
Others?
Yes I think we could name other Democrats....
https://www.smithsonianma...lure-180958247/
7ºLinda Munroe Here are my questions...
He's 15 now, probably 13 when he was forced out of school and imprisoned in his home for a year or more...
1. Did his parents have to work? Leaving him with no supervision?
2. How much basic education did he lose? (Most children have lost more than one academic year based on the horrendous testing results after returning)
3. Did he ever go back to school?
We have to accept the responsibility for the appalling damage (educationally and emotionally) we caused to 50 million children because of our hysteria.
Districts and parents need to work together to pull the children who've fallen through the cracks back to where they should be.
8ºAre we ready to talk about the root cause which is parenting. The parents can have beautiful intent but it doesn’t mean they didn’t make missteps or neglected to do things like validate his emotions or have a simple conversation about why his life and future matters therefore he understands others do. It’ll be a cold day before that conversation is had because parents who lack fuel our prison labor and cheap labor. It’s much more beneficial to get up and arms and claim no one behaviors especially parents has no affect and evil just pops out of the blue.
9ºAnnie Morgan
Yes indeed it IS a mental health issue.
It’s an American pandemic.
It’s called
gun nutism
1. A person who takes a keen interest in firearms and ammunition, possibly including the study, peer discussion, ownership, bearing and use thereof - usually used playingly by oneself or by other firearms enthusiasts in this sense. Often associates with people with similar interests.
2. A person who takes seemingly morbid interest in firearms out of a belief that they provide protection, security and freedom while appearing scary to the uninitiated - usually used derogatively by non-gun people, particularly those who are scared of firearms.
10ºRick Anthony we have over 330 million people in this country and maybe 10-15 thousand die by guns excluding suicide because that shouldn't even count. And of those 10-15 thousand not all of them are murders. And most murders are due to gangland violence. Another fun fact for you. Rifles account for only a few hundred deaths per year. The AR15 is less than that. Hands and feet are used to kill more people along with blunt objects. Handguns are used in most murders and homicides yet I don't hear anyone talking about banning those. Just a scary looking rifle to the uneducated are what's wanting to be banned