Too Many Tears

Parkland FL school shooting. No words

https://a.msn.com/01/en-us/BBJ8HLr?ocid=se

Just thoughts and prayers.

My niece is a special education student at the school. Our family had some very tense moments this afternoon while my sister was waiting to hear from her teacher. We got word that she was sheltering in the classroom with her teacher, her classmates and a police officer assigned to stay with them until they were allowed to evacuate the school. I guess this is one of those times that being a child with Downs may be to her advantage, as I don't think she truly understands the full ramifications of what happened today. I have another niece who was on lockdown in the adjacent middle school, and she was definitely freaked out by the events of the day. I can't even imagine what it would be like to be the family and relatives of those who were killed or wounded today. Our kids deserve better than this.

SaxMan said:

My niece is a special education student at the school. Our family had some very tense moments this afternoon while my sister was waiting to hear from her teacher. We got word that she was sheltering in the classroom with her teacher, her classmates and a police officer assigned to stay with them until they were allowed to evacuate the school. I guess this is one of those times that being a child with Downs may be to her advantage, as I don't think she truly understands the full ramifications of what happened today. I have another niece who was on lockdown in the adjacent middle school, and she was definitely freaked out by the events of the day. I can't even imagine what it would be like to be the family and relatives of those who were killed or wounded today. Our kids deserve better than this.

Click to expand...

So glad your Nieces are both "physically" ok, though the trauma of such an event will likely require counseling.

Coward isnt even a strong enough word for the shooter.

No if you used the right words here you would have to be banned from the forum.

Bayless said:

No if you used the right words here you would have to be banned from the forum.

Click to expand...

There are often words I'd like to say also but then I'd have to ban myself.

tHE 18th SCHOOL SHOOTING IN 45 DAYS!!! A vexing and complex issue. There is no doubt the fellow was and or is mentally deranged. This mental health issue, in tandem with various sociocultural aspects found in our world today, lends a hand to these tragedies. We need a radical change in our view and application of mental health and some revision of both our forms of entertainment and our methods of education. This particular form of aggression is far to common and pervasive to be swept under the rug. These events will not stop with simple fiats. We need a national in depth conversation upon this problem. We have been obviously following the wrong track so far. This will and is happening in our own neighborhood and will continue to escalate unless we make radical changes in our methods. Change does come from within. I have left politics out of my rant. I am keeping this light and fun but we need less hand held war games in our children's hands, less glorification of guns and killing on our video screens, and a sober realistic thoughtful nationwide effort effort to address this growing problem. No stone should be left unturned. The next dead child could be our own.

elrey said:

tHE 18th SCHOOL SHOOTING IN 45 DAYS!!! A vexing and complex issue. There is no doubt the fellow was and or is mentally deranged. This mental health issue, in tandem with various sociocultural aspects found in our world today, lends a hand to these tragedies. We need a radical change in our view and application of mental health and some revision of both our forms of entertainment and our methods of education. This particular form of aggression is far to common and pervasive to be swept under the rug. These events will not stop with simple fiats. We need a national in depth conversation upon this problem. We have been obviously following the wrong track so far. This will and is happening in our own neighborhood and will continue to escalate unless we make radical changes in our methods. Change does come from within. I have left politics out of my rant. I am keeping this light and fun but we need less hand held war games in our children's hands, less glorification of guns and killing on our video screens, and a sober realistic thoughtful nationwide effort effort to address this growing problem. No stone should be left unturned. The next dead child could be our own.

Click to expand...

There are no easy answers, but lots of opinions. One thing is for sure, this kid was screaming glaring signals that something was very wrong - like posting "Im going to be a professional school shooter" on social media. Hello? People knew this, yet no intervention was done to assess the young man's mental health? I see that as a big problem.

And for my rant I'll just say this:

I wish we (society) would talk about improving mental health care at times other than when a tragedy occurs and it is presumed (rightly or wrongly) that mental health must have played a part (remains to be seen in this case). There are millions of people in the country who suffer from some type of mental illness, be it depression, PTSD, BiPolar disorder, or some psychotic illness like Schizophrenia. There is a HUGE amount of stigma associated with having a mental illness, which is why many people who may be suffering don't seek the help they need. There is also a tendency to lump all people with mental illness into the "dangerous psychotic" basket, which is exceedingly unfair and only adds to the stigma.

Speaking as a guy who has been teaching this> https://www.nami.org/f2f for 12 years now, I can assure you that a person suffering from mental illness is far more likely to be a victim of violence that to be a perpetrator of violence; but the rare occurrence of the latter is the only time mental illness gets any publicity. Also, there are many different kinds of mental illness and many different degrees of symptoms, but when the media and others discuss the issue, they discuss it as if it's all one big monolithic problem and leaves people with the impression that anyone with "mental illness" must be a dangerous psychopath. Noting could be further from the truth. It is far more complex than the way it is usually discussed in the media, including social media. One thing is for sure - health care for mental illness lags far behind that for other illnesses, despite the fact that mental illnesses are just a real as heart disease or cancer. - they just happen to affect the brain, which in turn affect complex behaviors. We need to have continued national discussion about mental illness and how we can reduce the stigma so that people who need the help will seek it. Mental illness is far more of an issue than just the occasional incidents when someone commits some terrible act. For example:

What do Alicia Keys, Buzz Aldrin, Michael Phelps, Patty Duke, Glenn Close's sister, Will Smith, Carrie Fisher, Adele, Emma Stone, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Margaret Cho, Bruce Springsteen, Abraham Lincoln (yes, the 16th President), JK Rowling, Vincent Van Gogh, Lady Gaga, Brian Wilson (Beach Boys), John Nash, and Terry Bradshaw all have in common? If you guessed they all suffer (or suffered in case of those deceased) with some form of mental illness, give yourself a cigar! My point is, the topic of mental health is much bigger and much more complex than most people realize and we need to have a serious discussion about reducing the stigma of mental illness and improving the system of care. Now, how's this for a segue:

In the coming day's I'll be posting my NAMI Banner for our annual NAMI Walks for the mind of America fund raiser. NAMI is the largest grass-roots organization in the country that advocates for individuals with mental illness and their families. In addition to education and support programs for families, NAMI also has excellent programs for providers and schools (like our "Ending the Silence" programs that high schools can incorporate into their health education to educate young people about mental illness. So please keep an eye out for the banner and consider supporting me in this years' annual fund raiser!

Ok, I'll climb down off my soap box now. (and thank you for not getting political)

A tragedy to be certain, the 18th school shooting, but that includes people going to school and taking their own lives both during school hours and after. Not changing anything, just saying there is a lot included in that data. Whats the answer? Run schools like a prison? Who knows, if it was easy it would have been done and implemented long ago. No one answer will fix everything, its the same thing we deal with overseas in high threat enviroments... if someone is willing to die in the process, you cant save everyone, just do your best to stem the blood loss. Taking the images of killing and guns, I.E. video games, movies, etc away from kids is a pipe dream. Its on the parents but youd pretty much turn on sesame street and thats it. Arm some teachers? Maybe. Better drills and education? Yes. Its a complex and tough problem for sure

At the least we are all being steeped in the realization that there is a problem. When the first few mass shootings took place in our country we blamed it soley upon the perpetrators. Now that this is happening throughout our country we must reassess the issue. I for one think that these shootings are SYMTOMS of a greater problem festering in our society. A cancer, if you will, eruptions brought on by years of neglect, a universal blindness to some of the insidious effects of our culture. It is not my opinion to remove all violent imaginings from our collective modes of awareness. No, I am of the opinion that we ALL must foster a more reasonable and helpful society, by initiating and following through with attractive and viable alternatives to the current offerings. Believe me, I am deeply and personally aware that mental illness takes many forms and that we all are not unstable killers. Far from it. Thank you for your continued efforts in this vein, Basil. What I am saying is; we must all do what we can when we can to help our fellow man while we are still here and able to do so. Or we will be living it in a bunker, not in the paradise we must strive toward.

I have to ask the question - where and how did this kid get his hands on an assault rifle and tons of ammo?

pdplot said:

I have to ask the question - where and how did this kid get his hands on an assault rifle and tons of ammo?

Click to expand...

He bought it...recommended you do a search for the sheriff’s press conference. Had the young man gotten the mental health eval and been deemed a danger to himself or others, and the system worked as it should have, he would not have been allowed to buy it legally. Just watch the Law enforcement breifs for those kinds of questions.

Basil said:

So glad your Nieces are both "physically" ok, though the trauma of such an event will likely require counseling.

Click to expand...

Thank you, Basil. The niece who was actually in the high school has Downs, and she seems to have no clue what happened. She thought today was a weekend, because she didn't go to school. The younger niece in the middle school was a bit more upset and chose not to go to school today, but will return on Friday. It seems like everyone is still in a state of shock.

We used to joke that when I'd tell people my sister lived in Parkland, no one knew where it was and. Now everyone knows.

We've been talking about it in class all day today, I was out yesterday with my sick daughter. I think this one certainly falls under the category of mental health. This kid is obviously disturbed and nothing I have seen or read indicates that anyone was surprised by his actions after the fact as he had threatened to do this exact thing on several occasions and the students and faculty were aware of his mental issues.

"A tragedy to be certain, the 18th school shooting, but that includes people going to school and taking their own lives both during school hours and after."
Not only that but most figures also include any kind of shooting within a quarter mile radius. So if the gas station across the street from my school were robbed and a shot was fired, or the questionable apartments had a shooting these sources would consider it a "school shooting."

"My niece is a special education student at the school. Our family had some very tense moments this afternoon while my sister was waiting to hear from her teacher. We got word that she was sheltering in the classroom with her teacher, her classmates and a police officer assigned to stay with them until they were allowed to evacuate the school. I guess this is one of those times that being a child with Downs may be to her advantage, as I don't think she truly understands the full ramifications of what happened today. I have another niece who was on lockdown in the adjacent middle school, and she was definitely freaked out by the events of the day. I can't even imagine what it would be like to be the family and relatives of those who were killed or wounded today. Our kids deserve better than this."

So happy to hear that your nieces are safe.

Bas, I rather appreciated your rant. I think that you are spot on.

waltesefalcon said:

We've been talking about it in class all day today, I was out yesterday with my sick daughter. I think this one certainly falls under the category of mental health. This kid is obviously disturbed and nothing I have seen or read indicates that anyone was surprised by his actions after the fact as he had threatened to do this exact thing on several occasions and the students and faculty were aware of his mental issues.

Click to expand...

It bothers me that the only time we (media, society, etc) seem to talk about mental health is when something like this occurs. The fact is, there are millions of people who suffer from real mental illnesses who are never going to do something like this. Whether actual mental illness was at play, or this was just a kid who was screwed up, remains to be seen. The bottom line for me is, we need more and better education about mental health and we need to bring mental health care up to par with the kind of care that is available for so many other illnesses.

Yes, mental illness is something that we need to have an open and frank discussion about for its own importance rather than simply the as an aside after a tragedy has occurred. Pretty much the only time it is deemed acceptable to talk about something like this in the classroom is after a tragedy. Then we are helping our students process what has happened whereas the rest of the time we are indoctrinating the youth. I really would like the opportunity to speak with my students about mental health more often because it is a very stigmatized issue and I would like for them to understand that anyone can suffer from a mental health disorder, it isn't just the "crazy" people in the world. My ex-wife suffers from bi-polar disorder so I have years of first hand dealings with mental health issues, I know that there are times she is perfectly fine and that other times she has sever mood swings, depression, and manic behaviors that she just can't help.