I can't believe the news today...

yeah...I was about to post about this......a friend lives near there and may know people whose children attend the school.

completely horrifying. I just have no words
 
See, the thing is, and I know this is going to sound callous, but I've become somewhat neutered regarding this type of incident.
From my side of the pond, every now and again you hear something along the lines of: "America was shocked today as a young man slaughtered his entire high-school class with a hand gun"

This seems to happen... well... maybe once a year or so. Whatever it is, it's often enough to register with you.

But hey, guns are good, are they not? Just look at the US constitution for absolutely no logical guidance whatsoever.
 
Robert said:
This seems to happen... well... maybe once a year or so. Whatever it is, it's often enough to register with you.
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It would be nice if that were the case. There were at least 4 other school killings THIS YEAR.

  • February 27, 2012: Chardon, Ohio T.J. Lane, 17, took a .22-caliber pistol and a knife to Chardon High School and fired 10 shots at a group of students sitting at a cafeteria table, killing 3 and wounding 2.[39]
  • September 26, 2012: Stillwater, Oklahoma Cade Poulos, 13, shot himself in the head right before classes started at Stillwater Junior High School.[42]
  • November 30, 2012: Christopher Krumm, age 25, offender in Wyoming school shooting with bow and arrow, 1 teacher, 1 relative and self.[43]
  • December 14, 2012 (Newtown, Connecticut school shooting) Adam Lanza, age 20, killed 20 children and 7 adults, including his mother who worked at the school, before committing suicide.
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None of those other cases were as bad as today's, but they certainly had the potential to be.

Anyway, I find it hard to be desensitized to little kids being killed. Maybe it's because I have a little kid now myself and I'm forced to wonder how I'd explain such a tragedy to her. I'm happy that she's too young to understand anything today, but I'm sure this won't be the last tragedy. How do you explain such a thing?
 
right now, it can't be explained.

we don't know why this guy went "nuts". why he killed his mother (apparently) and went to the school......This is what we SHOULD be trying to figure out, but unfortunately, it' easier to get all nuts over guns and other aspects of this sort of thing instead of getting down to the science of understanding what went on in HIS head
 
Glaucus said:
It would be nice if that were the case. There were at least 4 other school killings THIS YEAR.
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Don't forget the Mall shooting just 2 days earlier.

OTOH This is not a US only problem.
Today in China a man broke into a school and injured 22 children with a knife.
Apparently this is just the latest in a series of incidents, 20 children have been killed so far.

It would appear that we have not only f**ked the planet, but we have f**ked ourselves.
 
http://www.cnn.com/2012/12/14/us/connecticut-shooting-school-principal/index.html

Hochsprung recently installed a new security system to ensure student safety.

In a letter this fall to parents, Hochsprung said that every visitor would be required to ring the doorbell at the front entrance after the doors locked at 9:30 a.m.

A staff member would use a visual monitoring system to determine entry.

Parents and visitors then had to report directly to the main office and sign in. Parents would also be asked for photo identification if the staff didn't recognize them.
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Robert said:
See, the thing is, and I know this is going to sound callous, but I've become somewhat neutered regarding this type of incident.
From my side of the pond, every now and again you hear something along the lines of: "America was shocked today as a young man slaughtered his entire high-school class with a hand gun"

This seems to happen... well... maybe once a year or so. Whatever it is, it's often enough to register with you.

But hey, guns are good, are they not? Just look at the US constitution for absolutely no logical guidance whatsoever.
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Yeah you sound like a dick. Too soon dude. Even Obama didn't go there. I know minator already pointed this out, but 22 kids were just wounded by knife in China.
 
cecilia said:
right now, it can't be explained.

we don't know why this guy went "nuts". why he killed his mother (apparently) and went to the school......This is what we SHOULD be trying to figure out, but unfortunately, it' easier to get all nuts over guns and other aspects of this sort of thing instead of getting down to the science of understanding what went on in HIS head
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Agreed. There are usually HUGE warning signs ignored.
 
redrumloa said:
Yeah you sound like a dick.
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Perhaps. However, it is the truth. When I hear about some nutter shooting kids in US schools as often as we do, the impact of it becomes like similar re-occurring tragedies. Car bombs in Baghdad and Palestinians killed by Israeli Airstrikes would be two other examples that spring to mind. First time you hear about it is a lot more horrifying than the twentieth.

Too soon dude.
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Not really sure what you mean by that.
I can come back and say the same thing in a month's time if you like.

I know minator already pointed this out, but 22 kids were just wounded by knife in China.
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Well, that's not what is splashed across the news today. Nor have I repeatedly heard - more often than annually, as Mike pointed out - of nutters with knives killing kids in Chinese schools.

My point was about how often this seems to happen. I stand by that, regardless of how much of a dick it makes me sound.
 
Robert said:
My point was about how often this seems to happen. I stand by that, regardless of how much of a dick it makes me sound.
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This is the 2nd worst such massacre in US history, only behind the Virginia Tech massacre. This is the first such massacre against elementary school kids. Hardly happens all the time.

Keep in mind the USA is the only place in the world where states are not individual countries. The USA is a vast country with hundreds of millions of people. Terrible things happen to people all over the world, not just in the USA. We also have (somewhat) freedom of the press so you actually hear about such things.
 
redrumloa said:
This is the 2nd worst such massacre in US history, only behind the Virginia Tech massacre. This is the first such massacre against elementary school kids. Hardly happens all the time.
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The specifics may not happen all the time, granted.
Nevertheless, a nutter shooting kids in a US school is anything but a unique event.

Furthermore, when I posted my comment, I had just heard on the radio, "A gunman has entered a school in the United States and shot several children dead."

My initial reaction was: "Again?".
That was the point of my post.

Keep in mind the USA is the only place in the world where states are not individual countries. The USA is a vast country with hundreds of millions of people. Terrible things happen to people all over the world, not just in the USA. We also have (somewhat) freedom of the press so you actually hear about such things.
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All true but that doesn't change the perception, which is, "Some nutter shot a bunch of kids in a US school. *Again*."
 
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