Tuesday Hot Topic.."School Shootings"

iVillage Member
Registered: 09-26-2003
Tuesday Hot Topic.."School Shootings"
3
Tue, 10-10-2006 - 7:48am

Scenes of violence have become disturbingly familiar. A gunman enters a school, takes hostages and leaves a trail of dead and wounded. In the past six weeks, there have been six shootings in schools across the U.S. and Canada. Why is this happening, and what can we do to protect our children? Nadine Kaslow, professor and chief psychologist at Emory School of Medicine in Atlanta, says, "We get the message that the way to communicate is through violence and that, somehow, violence is acceptable."


Is tighter gun control the answer? Do the media play a role in creating copycat killings? We undergo strict screenings when boarding planes; should we play a more proactive role in securing our schools? The most recent tragedy has prompted President Bush to convene a conference on how federal resources can be used to prevent such tragedies.


What do we tell our kids?


Tell us what you think.


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iVillage Member
Registered: 01-28-2004
Tue, 10-10-2006 - 11:24am
I have always hated guns. But gun control will not stop these people. I have always told my daughter when it is her time she will know. (thats sad to a certain degree) But we should not be afraid of death. We only want to protect our children. I have no idea what to tell her. I have always told her the truth. So if the question was to come up if someone came into the school with a gun no one is going to be able to stop them. Two do what that person says and hope for the best. Once I find out I will be there waiting. Until just stay calm. Maybe look for an opening to leave or a way to get away. If you see someone that should not be there tell someone. Other than that what else do you say to them. We go to a small school several rooms but small from k-8th great target. Not much more I can do. Just tell her to stay calm and try not to panic.
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Tue, 10-10-2006 - 1:21pm

Well, we have very strict gun controls in Canada and the guy who killed the student in Montreal (and wounded many more) had legally obtained his guns and had a permit. Obviously if you are a known criminal you can't legally buy a gun, but until you commit a crime you aren't in the system and not all criminals work their way up from petty crimes to murder. And if you are a criminal and have this in mind, you know very well how to get guns that aren't registered and are illegal anyway. I am not against strict gun regulations. I don't think anyone needs a gun that shoots 1000 bullets in 45 seconds. For what? What is the purpose? Its not for hunting or target practice. Those kinds of guns have one puprose to terrorize and kill.


I also think that with the world being increasingly aware of terrism and the threats, wackos are looking for easier targets. Where is security the lowest? You can't go into the Empire State Building or Saks and start shooting. They are looking for threats. But schools and especially a school like the Amish one, are very low security and easy for people to attack. As for why students do it? I have no idea. I mean its not a "new" phenomenon, its been happening probably since there have been schools, of course we hear about every single case now and can we get to the bottom of the WHY and prevent other students from killing their peers? I'm not sure 100%. It seems there are always going to be kids and adults out there who can't be stopped and maybe its because of what happened in their youth that "made" them that way and we should solve those problems too, but until that happens, what about the walking emotionally wounded who are so angry they take that anger out on anyone around?


What do we tell our kids? Well despite the fact that there have been 6 school shootings recently, how many schools are there in the US and Canada? I would think the odds are extremely small of it ever happening. Yes it could, but a meterorite could also fall on your house tomorrow and kill you. You don't live in the basement because of that. You don't do stupid things, you don't take chances, but you can't live your life in fear or you become as crippled as the perpetrators of these crimes. So its sad, its frustrating, it makes me angry as heck at the people who do it, but I don't let it run my life. I have to have faith that the majority of people in this world are kind and good and just othewise its just too depressing to function.


Oh, the cousin of one of my classmates attends the school in Montreal where the recent shooting was and he was actually in the area where it happened and heard the gun shots. Extremely scary. They never did find out why the guy targetted that school (college really), not sure if he was a student, or simply picked a place he knew there would be lots of people.

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iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2003
Tue, 10-10-2006 - 2:02pm

I don't think it's really necessary to lock down the schools like a prison..wouldn't that just make going to school more traumatic for the kids? Having everyone wear some type of ID badge so everyone knows who does/doesn't belong in the school and securing doors during the school day should be enough.

We're in Denver and of course after the most recent LOCAL shooting my kids are all freaked out. There were also some warnings scratched into the bathroom walls warning that they'd be the "Next Colombine". Police were called, photos taken and it was painted over. The next week the SWAT Team was at the school running drills and they've now installs video cameras throughout the school. Once again my kids were freaked out. We sat them down and calmly explained that what the school was doing was probably the best deterrent to any kind of negative activity and that all of the kids were feeding off each other's anxieties and making it worse.

Can we prevent it? Not if the gunman really wants to do it and can plan around the security measures in place. We watched Good Morning America a few weeks ago and they gave some great tips to teach the kids: If you hear gunshots, try to run into a room with windows to the outside. If you can't find a room with a window push tables and desks up against the door to prevent entry by the gunman. If you can't open a window, throw a computer or anything else through it to break it. If you manage to get out of the building, get away as fast as you can and don't stand out in the open...hide behind cars, trees, etc.. If you're stuck in a bathroom, use whatever you can to stall him...pour soap on the floor, hide on toilets. Even a fire extinguisher can hold em off.

We went over these with our kids and explained that you can't control what happens to you, but if you take the time to look around you and make a plan ahead of time, you don't have to be ruled by panic. I'm sure these next few days leading up the the anniversary of Columbine will be full of tension, but I plan on sending my kids to school to show them that we feel safe and secure with them being in school. (Just makes me wish I was still homeschooling, but I don't tell them that)

Denise