03/19/2024

 

GUNNED DOWN

 

If that kid didn't have a gun, he couldn't have done that. Oh? Ever see what a baseball bat can do? How ‘bout a chainsaw? Machete? Claw hammer? Car? Pipe bomb? So much for the silliness, OK?

There are ways of thinking that are as old as the human race – maybe older. Those ways are still around, because they work. One of those ways is called Thrice Ringed, MINE!

In days of yore, Kings sent out raiding parties, with the sole intent of bringing back plunder. By night, those raiders would arrive at a potential target.

Their commander walked the perimeter of that target, keeping to the trees, looking at the target from as many angles; in as many different ways, as possible. Then the decision to attack (or not) was made, along with the best way to win. Because you didn't want to return to your King with no gold, and three of the fifty soldiers assigned, to you.

The common viewpoint on this situation is the horror these events cause; the lives, they ruin; the senselessness, of it all. In short, the strong motivation all of us feel, to stop this. In order to stop it we must first understand it. Understanding how it happens may be of value; why it happens, most certainly will. And ‘thrice ringed, mine' thinking is the key.

School systems are running scared, and for good reason. They fear they will be held financially responsible for the deaths of some of their kids. Lawyers become a significant part of the school system's budget. They know the success of just one suit will shut them down, permanently.

Teachers are aware of the problem. It's called bullying. They know the kid(s) getting bullied and they wish, with all their hearts, they could do something about it. But when they report it, nothing happens. Nothing visible, anyway. But somewhere in the darkness, the hate that will bring the next school shooter grows. Or the next suicide.

Did you catch that? The name of the PROBLEM, is bullying. The name of the SYMPTOM, is mass murder.

I know what it's like, to be a prey animal. I'm fat; black; Mexican; I stutter; I'm poor, and don't have any nice clothes; my mom is Chinese, and I'm funny looking… I live the life of a prey animal, each and every day. Kids fuck with me in the halls. They call me names. They're always ganging up on me on facebook. They fuck with me on the bus. And you know what? I would like to kill those kids. Maybe I will, someday…

That's right: Your chair is not the only one. I just put you in a few more .)

The vast majority of teachers care about kids. They can make more money at wal-mart. They will be much more than willing to identify the kids getting bullied. To ‘call in backup,' if you will? But that backup has to be there.

If I'm not mistaken, job one of any school system is to provide a safe and healthy environment to the children it serves. Bullying is a danger to those students. It causes them to kill themselves, on a ‘good day,' and as many kids as they can, on a bad one.

Those being bullied need to be identified, and given help. They need to know the government is in the business of making wrongs, right! In short, they need a friend…

Those doing the bullying need to be expelled from our schools, permanently. In order to keep someone from being killed.

Any school system that will not take these steps should be on trial, for mass murder, when these events take place because they are responsible, in every sense of the word.