Does American Have To Start Arming Their Teachers?

[No coincidences]

Fixing the problems before they start is the only thing that will come close to working.

That would include a 'normal' family upbringing. Mother, father, siblings or two. Father works, mother nurtures. Rebuild the family unit.

That would in turn help 'breed' a new generation, one that got back to good family values and they way things used to be when the world was semi normal.

You cant fix people that are already broken, at least not with any means being employed today. Only way to not break them is having them raised by people who themselves wee raised 'right'. Which is a very small percentage right now, and getting smaller.

Unfortunately, I agree with a lot of this.

In addition, it scares me to think of how desensitized kids are these days. They grow up with the kind of video games and movies that literally alter the reality of people who may be "off" in the first place.

[paranoyd androyd]

Mental illness is the result of a chemical deviation in your brain that may or may not present itself at any time throughout your life. How often do you hear of these people who commit murder or rape and their parents are model citizens, church goers, perfect family, kid was a straight A student, member of the debate team, lovely girlfriend, heaps of friends, no one saw it coming?

There's a reason the medical and scientific community have advanced as far as they have: Because they left antiquated ideas back in 1952 where they belong and continued to do research instead. Thinking that a mom, dad, and a brother and sister are going to prevent someone from becoming mentally unwell is about as naive and ignorant as one can get. Almost as bad as thinking you can 'train' or 'will' your child not to be gay if you just raise them properly. People struggle to teach a puppy to shit where it needs to or even funnier go to a puppy school because they need help yet they think they can mess with biochemicals in the human brain. Good luck with that!

good post, though i don't think wanti was speaking against mental health science nor its potential role in such incidents. i think he's just saying that everything begins at home and that's where the emphasis needs to return. i think along with that comes your point about mental welfare and it being just as large of a culprit. ideally, it's a subject that will become less taboo and communicated about within the home, especially where males are concerned.

[shari91]

Shari who are you Dr Phil now?

Dude that's like 1st year psych if that. Maybe 2nd year biology in uni. This stuff is indisputable.

As for your reply wantitall4moi - as with every other sickness and disease, things don't affect people in the same way nor are they affected to the same extent. My mental illness might equal constant panic attacks, binge eating, crippling depression every 6 months or so where I can't get out of bed and slight OCD. Yours might equal constant paranoia, manic depression, suicidal tendencies, hallucinations, etc.

How you say everyone is born knowing the difference between right and wrong leads me to think you don't have children. Babies aren't born knowing anything other than to reach for their mom's boob if they can and cry to express themselves regardless of their complaint. A newborn can't even tell if it's their mum's boob or another woman's. They'll squirm up to wherever they smell milk regardless of any genetic link. That's precisely why there are people who are paid - especially in very posh, two parent, two sibling households - to be wet nurses and have been for hundreds of years. You're severely underestimating the capacity of the human brain and one's genetic makeup. And despite all the perfect parenting one can throw at a child, we will never be able to mess with their brain matter. The kid who laughs while stabbing cats to death with a stick might also be an altar boy and be scared of God. MattyRain suggested earlier elsewhere that it could be because of anti-depressants that this is happening in this particular period of time because all of these drugs were tested on healthy people so all of the side effects or even the drug's effectiveness simply can't be quantified yet. I'd never considered that before he mentioned it but it sounded right when he said it so hopefully I get the chance to look into it a bit more soon.

Regardless though, it's always situations like this that tend to bring out our worst fears. And naive hope that we can just parent well enough to make this never happen to our family. Or earn enough money at least, send our kids to the best schools and not let them hang out with supposed bad influences. It's the randomness of people being murdered in a supposed safe environment that shatters us when we hear of these events because literally what could one do as a parent to have prevented this from happening? Nothing.

[No coincidences]

good post, though i don't think wanti was speaking against mental health science nor its potential role in such incidents. i think he's just saying that everything begins at home and that's where the emphasis needs to return. i think along with that comes your point about mental welfare and it being just as large of a culprit. ideally, it's a subject that will become less taboo and communicated about within the home, especially where males are concerned.

wanti and shari are both right as far as I'm concerned.

[paranoyd androyd]

wanti and shari are both right as far as I'm concerned.

agreed, room needs to be made for both at home.

[therocket]

I am a high school teAcher, 9th year in. Most schools have a critical lockdown procedure in case of an emergency, many high schools have an armed police officer on site and then local police on speed dial. The biggest factor in any of this and kids snapping is parental involvement or lack their of. In the grand scheme of things schools are pretty safe. People need to address mental health issues before things get taken to far. And stupid people shouldn't breed.

[rfr3sh]

so adding guns to prevent gun violence sounds like a reasonable solution to some people ???

[No coincidences]

so adding guns to prevent gun violence sounds like a reasonable solution to some people ???

Apparently.

[gregm]

Always the usual knee jerk overreactions in these cases.

I'm still pissed that I have to take off my shoes at the airport and not travel with my favorite lotions.

Stop being such a pussy about your "lotions". Homeland security needs to incorporate our nations schools just like civil defense was a part of american life in the 1950s during the cold war.

Just like allowing pilots to carry firearms and use of air marshals can help prevent hijackings, allowing more school personnel to go through training and carry firearms and increasing security at schools can help prevent deaths during the Columbines,Beslans and tragedies like today. Arming and training certain members of school personnel has been used in Thailand and Israel and has been considered in Germany as well to prevent school violence.

Americans need something like the civil defense programs of the 1950s to wake our nation up and be more prepared.

[seaborneq]

If the PE teacher, assistant principal, that bitchy english teacher, the head cook, the maintenence man, and one school bus driver could be trained and trusted to carry firearms at each school. This shit would never happen again. The shooting may come from within, but no one would walk into a school and kill a room filled with children if they thought they would never get a round off.

[paco]

Should be metal detectors in every school entrance with an armed guard at point.

[byronbb]

If this was something that had to be asked of my country, I'd start to wonder if I had been victim of some sort of brainwashing to believe I lived in "the greatest country in the world".

[Chi_archie]

if my teachers had been armed

i'd been killed in any year from 5th grade to Junior year of HS

[Boner_18]

I don't think this is the answer. In fact I don't think there is a question.

[GamblerSpirit]

Wow, there are so many great responses in this thread, and none of them involve guns.