http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/03/21/school.shooting/index.html

Anybody agree with me now that there need to be more strict punishments in school to prevent things like this?

No, not really. A kid who's capable of things like this isn't going to respond to more discipline. Obviously he's got serious problems, and discipline isn't the answer, just as it wouldn't have been in the Columbine shootings.

Yep, I agree EM. You never know who it could be.

anyone ever think gun laws? This is where a push to renew the brady bill would be a good idea

Liberal Solution: Tougher gun licensing and registration laws to prevent underage and unstable persons from obtaining a gun.

Conservative Solution: Arm all the students so they can fire back.

I am in agreement Earthmother and Chris! :( No LAW, ENFORCEMENT or ACTION will stop the next "Billy the Kid"!

In my opinion??? This is a problem created by Society!

Maybe too MANY "over the counter" cold pills :dripple: ..................who knows?


Have a nice day :) ................Andrew Paul

I am also in agreement that stricter punishment in school is not the answer, how much stricter can you get than killing them and boy took his own life.

Well, people don't just shoot up schools for no reason. There was a school shooting last year at a school 15 minutes away from mine. Guess what? The kid was bullied every day. When you push someone so far, harassing them day after day after day, they start to lose their mind. I've had bullying seminars at my school talking about all the cases where kids brought guns to school, and the main reason was NOT videogames, NOT heavy metal or hip hop, NOT because they were just plain messed up in the head... The reason is because people get pushed so far and then they finally snap.

If there were stricter school laws that would forbid peer pressure, bullying, and the like, things like this wouldn't happen (atleast not nearly as often).

It's time for people to stop placing all the blame on gun laws, videogames, music, and mental disorders.

Good points.

Most of the Conservatives I know ARE unstable and I sure wouldn't trust them with a gun. Cocky thug attitudes and guns don't mix.

I know I will get some who will disagree but I don't feel ANYONE under 21 years of age is mature enough to own a gun if even then.

I agree 100% with you. It aggrivates me how the republicans call themselves the party of "values," yet because of their stance on guns, things like the DC sniper occur.

Billy the Kid

Sad FACT my friends? I AGREE with the "line of thought" that thanks to BULLYING and MENTAL ABUSE our children are being FORCED to do the UNTHINKABLE!!! :( :dripple:

Truth is.............when I was in my "Catholic High School" I was literally put on "THE CHOPPING BLOCK" for my stand against the VIETNAM WAR!
I was "humiliated" in front of the whole student body for particapating in a PEACE MARCH!

Imagine that??? :?: :dripple: :angry: Those leading the ABUSE were the COACHES AND TEACHERS!!! :mad:

To THIS DAY??? I am still haunted by the MENTAL ABUSE and HORRIBLE TREATMENT I recieved during that UGLY TIME! And, consequently? I WILL NEVER OR EVER STEP FOOT IN THAT HELL HOLE AGAIN..........at age 50! Think about it!

Today? I could SUE THESE PRICKS!!! :angry: Not then!

More needs to be done to prevent ABUSE (whether it be physical or mental) of our elementary and highschool aged youth!


Have a nice evening :) ............Andrew Paul

But it isn't so easy to just sue the pricks. Pretty soon, they're more angry with you, and you're getting anonymous prank calls, your house vandelized, and things worse than before because now they want revenge.

I understand greyfox :( :( :(

And, LET ME GUESS? The POLICE can't or won't do anything??? :angry:

That's when a 357 Magnum comes in handy (so to say)!


I CAN'T BELIEVE IT'S ALL HAPPENING ALL OVER AGAIN! These are the REPUBLICANS GOOD OLD DAY'S! :mad: :angry: :mad: :bad:

Maybe it's time for another REVOLUTION???

Food for thought.....................Andrew Paul

It sounds alot worse then when I was in school in New York, even though there was some bullying, I don't ever remember seeing anyone with a weapon. It was mostly verbal abuse and teasing but that was bad enough to make someone bitter and angry and hate school.

But with youth more angry at society, the lax gun laws are creating more problems, and mix that with drug abuse, you got a potential disaster waiting to happen. Its sad to say, but if an angry student has easy access to guns and has a grudge against someone at his school, there is a probem. He takes the gun to school and shoots everyone in his way, and you have these disasterous school shootings that end up killing innocent people.

I have to admit, I'm glad that I'm not in school anymore, but it's not right that kids can no longer feel safe in school.

Think about this ya'all! :o

"What you sew is what you reap"

Here is a HEADLINE from CNN (as we speak) :(



Think about this folks......................"AMERICANS" are over in IRAQ..........K I L L I N G IRAQ'S (their population)???

Duh............"K I L L I N G" for the republicans is "COOL and FUN"! THINK ABOUT THAT! THANKS GEORGE!

AMERICA IS KILLING SO AS TO CREATE LIFE???

Thus...........why shouldn't our children think its COOL to KILL :?: !!!


NOTE: How LONG before ADULTS decide it's COOL TO KILL and start taking action on their own terms??? :dripple: That day is COMING! It's called "MAYHEM" :read:

"When ya got nothing?........ya got nothing to loose" :blink:

And, have a nice day :) .................Andrew Paul

And, as always AGIML. YOUR CORRECT!

We DO need new thinking around the globe to STOP stupid, endless, useless and totally barbaric WARS!

Death "ain't" a solution................except if your a REPUBLICAN!


Have a nice evening :) ...............Andrew Paul

It makes me think the only reason (other than they are control freaks), the republicans want to stop abortions is they need a constant flow of babies growing up to keep fighting in their dirty little wars. They don't care if they end up dead.

I know, a morbid thought, but the republicans are so twisted and hypocritical, it wouldn't surprise me. :bad:

I don't think the guns are the problem; it's the causing factors.

If anybody's seen Bowling for Columbine, you'd know how low gun casualties are in other countries. Canada for instance, a country that has a higher gun per person ratio than the US, has a significantly lower gun casualty rate. I do however believe assault weapons and pistols should be illegal [but that's irrelevant because this tragedy was performed with a rifle].

Reform the school's disciplinary system, raise minimum wage, offer universal healthcare and I can guarentee you that the rate in gun crimes will go down.

I somewhat agree, if everyone had a better way of life without all the worries, stress and often poverty, there would be less crime. Those living in poverty sometimes have to steal to eat, pay the rent, can get involved in drugs and yes, they may be tempted to use a gun. Greed and oppression can sometimes make people do things they woudn't normally do. It makes people angry and gives them a sense of hopelessness.

I agree that if everyone could live normal {not talking rich}have a decent affordable roof over their head, adequate food and clothing, healthcare and could live in peace, yes there would definitely be less crime, less gun use. It wouldn't solve all the problems but it would be a start.

It really sucks that this is supposed to be the richest country in the world, and yet it has one of the highest rates of poverty and homelessness in the world.

Not to mention our crime rate is through the roof.

http://michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=1972

I stole - um borrowed - this from Butterfly...

http://rawstory.com/news/2005/index.php?p=217

3/25/2005
Silence from White House on school shooting, as opposed to Schiavo, unnerves Native American leaders
Filed under:

* General

— site admin @ 9:56 am

Native Americans across the country – including tribal leaders, academics and rank-and-file tribe members – voiced anger and frustration Thursday that President Bush has responded to the second-deadliest school shooting in U.S. history with silence, the (registration-restricted) Washington Post reports Friday. Excerpts follow.
#

Three days after 16-year-old Jeff Weise killed nine members of his Red Lake tribe before taking his own life, grief-stricken American Indians complained that the White House has offered little in the way of sympathy for the tribe situated in the uppermost region of Minnesota.

“From all over the world we are getting letters of condolence, the Red Cross has come, but the so-called Great White Father in Washington hasn’t said or done a thing,” said Clyde Bellecourt, a Chippewa Indian who is the founder and national director of the American Indian Movement here. “When people’s children are murdered and others are in the hospital hanging on to life, he should be the first one to offer his condolences. . . . If this was a white community, I don’t think he’d have any problem doing that.”

White House spokesman Scott McClellan, in an informal discussion with reporters Tuesday, said: “Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of those who were killed.”

“I hope that he would say something,” said Victoria Graves, a cultural educator at Red Lake Elementary School on the reservation. “It’s important that there’s acknowledgment of the tragedy. It’s important he sees the tribes are out here. We need help.”

The reaction to Bush’s silence was particularly bitter given his high-profile, late-night intervention on behalf of Terri Schiavo, the brain-damaged Florida woman caught in a legal battle over whether her feeding tube should be reinserted.

“The fact that Bush preempted his vacation to say something about Ms. Schiavo and here you have 10 native people gunned down and he can’t take time to speak is very telling,” said David Wilkins, interim chairman of the Department of American Indian Studies at the University of Minnesota and a member of the North Carolina-based Lumbee tribe.

Even more alarming

for some is the president’s proposal to cut $100 million from several Indian programs next year.

After hearing grumbling from tribal leaders, Jacqueline Johnson, executive director of the National Congress of American Indians, called the White House on Thursday to inquire about Bush’s silence. “I wanted to make sure the White House is paying attention to this issue,” she said. “I wasn’t sure.”

Asked Thursday about Bush’s silence, spokeswoman Dana Perino said that he plans to dedicate part of his Saturday radio address to the Red Lake tragedy and that he is following the case closely through the FBI and the Justice Department.

Clearly trying to prevent future school shootings is too much "hard work."

Oh, give him a break. He works "hard." It's "hard work." :lol:

Well atleast we're "makin' progress".

Yeah, I mean, did you know sometimes he even works on weekends too? :D