School Shooting in PA

Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/Northeast...hool.shooting/



It was bound to happen again... I just didn't think it would be this random, and just violent...



The kid had 3 guns... 3!.... He was 14 years old.... do any of you remember what you were like when you were 14? I think the most important thing in my life at that time was like super nintendo or something... (err end of 8th grade was probably learning about the pro go whoa ad campaign... but I digress) HOMICIDE? SUICIDE? in 8th grade?

What the F*CK is going on?
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 54
    The culture of guns, violent movies and video games, and the lack of corporate responsibility is pretty much heavily to blame.



    We need to reconsider a lot of things because we can't keep going on like this, yet we will.
  • Reply 2 of 54
    Really it is a wonder this doesn't happen very often. When you consider all of the emotional troubles that teens have and their very high suicide rates it is a wonder that we don't see more rampages against others.
  • Reply 3 of 54
    Quote:

    Originally posted by ColanderOfDeath

    Really it is a wonder this doesn't happen very often. When you consider all of the emotional troubles that teens have and their very high suicide rates it is a wonder that we don't see more rampages against others.



    I think there are very real environmental and societal factors that negatively contribute to what we're seeing here.



    Anyone care to expound?
  • Reply 4 of 54
    scottscott Posts: 7,431member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by ShawnPatrickJoyce

    The culture of guns, violent movies and video games, and the lack of corporate responsibility is pretty much heavily to blame.



    We need to reconsider a lot of things because we can't keep going on like this, yet we will.




    Maybe you could sue the gun makes for making a legal product and steal lots of money for yourself. Oh and the victims to maybe if there's any left over.
  • Reply 5 of 54
    lucaluca Posts: 3,833member
    Scott, the question isn't whether it's actually legal or not, but whether it should be legal or not. I am really torn on the issue, but I think the way I said would be a better way to look at it.



    Either way, I don't think the media is to blame. No 14 year old sees a violent movie or plays a violent video game and thinks it would be cool to just go out and kill some people. My brother is a very normal 14 year old, and I often see his friends of the same age. No 14 year old would do that sort of thing unless he had serious problems, and there would probably be warning signs leading up to it. Also, what type of video game would promote going up and shooting the principal, then killing himself? Most violent games involve running around and killing lots of people, and many earlier school shootings involved that sort of thing - children firing many rounds at people. This one involved a suicide, so I definitely think it has more to do with a psychological problem. Columbine also involved suicide - do you think those boys really were inspired by a video game or movie? I don't.



    From reading the article, it seems that the guns were locked up but the child managed to get them anyway... I don't know enough details to really tell if the parents were irresponsible or not.
  • Reply 6 of 54
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Luca Rescigno

    Scott, the question isn't whether it's actually legal or not, but whether it should be legal or not. I am really torn on the issue, but I think the way I said would be a better way to look at it.



    Either way, I don't think the media is to blame. No 14 year old sees a violent movie or plays a violent video game and thinks it would be cool to just go out and kill some people. My brother is a very normal 14 year old, and I often see his friends of the same age. No 14 year old would do that sort of thing unless he had serious problems, and there would probably be warning signs leading up to it. Also, what type of video game would promote going up and shooting the principal, then killing himself? Most violent games involve running around and killing lots of people, and many earlier school shootings involved that sort of thing - children firing many rounds at people. This one involved a suicide, so I definitely think it has more to do with a psychological problem. Columbine also involved suicide - do you think those boys really were inspired by a video game or movie? I don't.



    From reading the article, it seems that the guns were locked up but the child managed to get them anyway... I don't know enough details to really tell if the parents were irresponsible or not.




    I think the role of the media is more complicated than you let on. But yeah, you're right, something's legality is no excuse for itself.
  • Reply 7 of 54
    xionjaxionja Posts: 504member
    Culture has been morphing, into a more violent accepting behavior. Kids are getting exposed to guns, blood and violence as a way to get things done. More and more teen violence will probably occur, till the general populace realizes its out of hand, and then the government will completly restrict violence from TV and video games, (not movies, that would just be cruel). Who knows after that.



    I would say for some of my friends 14-16 yrs old, if something was consistantly pissing them off, ****ing them over or something else, and they had relativly easy access to a gun, they would think about it, some may plan it, though i doubt any would go through with it.



    I think the access to his stepfathers guns are what caused this to happen, besides a serious problem with the school principal.
  • Reply 8 of 54
    sc_marktsc_markt Posts: 1,401member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by ShawnPatrickJoyce

    The culture of guns, violent movies and video games, and the lack of corporate responsibility is pretty much heavily to blame.



    We need to reconsider a lot of things because we can't keep going on like this, yet we will.




    SPJ,



    To a degree, I agree with you regarding violent movies and video games. I'm totally lost on how corporate responsibility is to blame.



    Other factors I see are single parenting, drugs, and alcohol.



    Since this kid had it in him to kill the principle, he would have done it if he didn't have a gun. Guns are not the problem. Raising human beings who have a total disregard for the lives of others is the problem.



    Here are a couple of recent examples of disregard for others....





    Kids beat man to brain death



    And another (the link doesn't work anymore)



    Teens Charged After Man's Death

    Video Records Lethal Attack



    http://www.ctnow.com/news/local/hc-b...eadlines-local





    April 7, 2003

    By DAVID OWENS And DON STACOM, Courant Staff Writers



    What began as several teenagers tormenting a mentally retarded man in the lobby of his Hartford apartment building Saturday afternoon escalated into an attack that left him dead, according to two men who viewed a videotape of the incident.



    One teen flung a full bottle of soda against Ricky Whistnant's head so hard the 39-year-old man fell over sideways, hitting the other side of his head against a wall as he collapsed, said the men who watched the surveillance camera videotape.



    The teens then surrounded Whistnant, kicking him and opening more soda bottles to pour over his motionless body, according to Oscar Negron, superintendent of the building, and his brother, Elliott, the assistant manager.



    Other tenants entering the lobby called 911, and paramedics arrived to try to revive Whistnant. He was pronounced dead soon afterward at Hartford Hospital.



    The attackers ran off as police began arriving, witnesses said, but within several hours detectives arrested three juveniles. Police did not release their names or ages Sunday, but Whistnant's family said investigators described them as teenagers.
  • Reply 9 of 54
    fellowshipfellowship Posts: 5,038member
    I would submit it is possible that some kids today have a poor self-image and receive little or no attention from family and friends. This combined with possible ridicule from peers at school lead to bitter troubled youths who can go over the edge and as it is done in too many video games today in graphic detail take a gun and (solve their problems). Sad, very sad because if the youths had a family who cared for them and supported them it is likely this would never happen in the first place.



    Fellowship
  • Reply 10 of 54
    jobjob Posts: 420member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by xionja

    More and more teen violence will probably occur, till the general populace realizes its out of hand,



    Events such as these are relatively isolated and only happen on a sporadic basis. If a school shooting happened every week on a regular basis I would agree with the above comment. However, I don't believe teen violence is out of hand per se, rather it seems so when school shootings occur and there is a large media coverage.



    Quote:

    and then the government will completly restrict violence from TV and video games, (not movies, that would just be cruel). Who knows after that.



    Eh? First Amendment anyone?



    RE: Societal and Environmental factors:

    These people are making a concious decision to shoot someone else. Yes, environmental factors play a large role, however when someone shoots another person, they are solely responsible for their actions. They made the decision to take another person's life and thus must be held responsible for their actions. After all, they pulled the trigger, not society.
  • Reply 11 of 54
    groveratgroverat Posts: 10,872member
    We can't go on like what? A school shooting every 3 years?
  • Reply 12 of 54
    ast3r3xast3r3x Posts: 5,012member
    i dont know which Red Lion it was, there are 3 in different county's, but its one of them and all fo them are within an hour of driving from me



    its definatly not media, i havn't shot anyone and i watch more violent movies and play more violent games...i think majority of it is how u are raised, i think that is the basis of everything



    now when i start robbing banks, and i have to shoot my way out, i wont think its right, but when its life or death i'll be prepared now! (not appropriate? sorry if so)
  • Reply 13 of 54
    shetlineshetline Posts: 4,695member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by ShawnPatrickJoyce

    The culture of guns, violent movies and video games, and the lack of corporate responsibility is pretty much heavily to blame.



    Events like this or Columbine, terrible though they might be, pale into insignificance when compared to other social problems. Despite routine media feeding frenzies over this sort of thing, our students and teachers are probably far more at risk of dying from junk food, cigarettes, sports injuries, or riding in cars to school.



    We humans seem to have found endless reasons to behave violently and barbarically in the past without movies and video games to blame for it. Sure, maybe such forms of entertainment aren't helping, but even if you could wave a magic wand and suddenly create a sanitized, Care Bear/Barney/Teletubbies approved world of gentle, soothing, nurturing fun for the whole family, I doubt you'd notice any great improvement in the general disposition of humankind.
  • Reply 14 of 54
    eugeneeugene Posts: 8,254member
    Quote:

    The culture of guns, violent movies and video games, and the lack of corporate responsibility is pretty much heavily to blame.



    This kind of support of censorship something I'd expect to hear from a a conservative homemaker that attends weekly PTA meetings while leaving her kids at home in front of the TV.



    All the violence in the world hasn't led me to shoot any of my previous principals or headmasters. I guess in my case Mortal Kombat isn't to blame!



    No. The lack of violence on TV isn't going to help much if a kid doesn't learn right from wrong to begin with.
  • Reply 15 of 54
    argentoargento Posts: 483member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by ShawnPatrickJoyce

    The culture of guns, violent movies and video games, and the lack of corporate responsibility is pretty much heavily to blame.



    We need to reconsider a lot of things because we can't keep going on like this, yet we will.




    I haven't yet seen anybody just sit there, and blame the kid. Maybe he actually knew what he was doing, and maybe he was smart enough to understand what he was about to do. I don't hear anybody blaming poor parenting, or really blaming the kid. They just blame random companies, or something that may have had a "psychological effect" on him. What the **** ever happened to free will? Is the kid that stupid that he has to learn about realtiy from TV? Or from what he read? Nobody forced this kid to pick up that gun, nobody forced him to do that shit, he was just that ****ing stupid and he did it. People ask for reasons why, maybe he just hated the principle that much, maybe he had some issues with anger but how that automatically means TV influenced him, or the media, or the gun makers is beyond me.
  • Reply 16 of 54
    eugeneeugene Posts: 8,254member
    Somehow, some way, GWB is responsible...just like how he blew up Columbia, right SPJ?
  • Reply 17 of 54
    stunnedstunned Posts: 1,096member
    Its so sad to see such a trategy happen in a civilised society.
  • Reply 18 of 54
    ebbyebby Posts: 3,110member
    As a recent teen, I can say that I don't think video games are to blame but society's ever constricting laws over teens. Teens are given more homework now than ever before to "keep them off the streets". Curfews only for teens were set up in my town, and police assume a group of teens are up to no good. Yes, personal experience talking here. All this, and more, creates an atmosphere of stress, suspicion, and prejudice. Video games are, unfortunately, an easy scapegoat. I have no trouble separating a video game from real life, nor do any of my friends. Although I will admit there are some reallymessed up people out there, many who do show warning signs and are dealt with leaving the dangerous people who do not show any signs free to roam.
  • Reply 19 of 54
    brbr Posts: 8,395member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by ShawnPatrickJoyce

    The culture of guns, violent movies and video games, and the lack of corporate responsibility is pretty much heavily to blame.



    We need to reconsider a lot of things because we can't keep going on like this, yet we will.




    You are so insane.
  • Reply 20 of 54
    alcimedesalcimedes Posts: 5,486member
    Quote:

    The culture of guns, violent movies and video games, and the lack of corporate responsibility is pretty much heavily to blame.



    dude, he was being funny, right..........?
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