50 replies to this topic

[Oaklands]

This is something near and dear to me as I have a 7 year old son that attends school only 1500ft from my office. I cannot even begin to know how these people feel that lost their children. My wife and I would be devastated. The following are my opinions and mine only:

Mental Illness: There are unfortunately very many people who have mental disabilities and are abused socially in the school systems. This causes vented up anger. Teenage kids are some of the most cruel people in the world when others "Don't fit in." We also have issues with many of the medications issued to patients today. Reading some of the warnings on many of the drugs advertised on TV are enough to scare the hell out of you. But some of the drugs for depression and anxiety say they can make you think suicidal thoughts. Add this with being hacked off by someone and you have a walking, ticking time bomb. Heck, even Chantix for quitting smoking has a warning it could make you suicidal. I took it for a while and had the most vivid wild dreams I ever had in my life. I couldn't stand it. I never felt suicidal but I can see how it could affect someone that way.

Parents with guns should make sure that anyone in their house with mental problems cannot access a gun. This was a problem that surfaced with this young man's mother. The young man should not have had access to the weapons. I am big on our 2nd amendment rights so NO, guns are not the problem. It is the person that has the gun that is the problem.

Parents: Parents have an obligation to raise their children in a proper manner. There is no book on how to do this, though many try to write them. It has been and always will be a "Trial and Error" method. No 2 kids are alike and you can't take a 1 method approach to all kids. I had an older and younger sibling and all 3 of us had our own individual personalities and were treated in different ways. We have to teach them right from wrong and prepare them the best we can to make 90% of their decisions right and 10% wrong. Everyone screws up and that is just the way it is.

I am a firm believer that kids need discipline. They seek attention and deserve it. I'm not going to discuss the ins and out of how I raise my kid because, like I said, it is "Trial and Error." I use some of the techniques I learned from my parents and some I have learned from other parents. I'm also real good at improvising. And yes, I don't spare the belt if needed. I do not beat my child but I have been known to get his attention.

Many of our kids don't get the guidance they need at home and therefore carry it with them to the public schools. Just a little story here. My son got hit by another kid twice at the beginning of the school year. The teach sent me a note home stating he complained of his chest hurting after being hit a couple of times. The teacher did not see it happen but was apologetic. We have zero tolerance in the schools but nothing was done.

What did I do? I sent a letter back to the teacher letting her know I was really disappointed my son did not defend himself and that I would correct the problem. Alas, we bought him a punching bag and taught him a little self defense. I instructed him to NEVER start a fight but if someone else hit him, I fully expected him to finish it. I went to school, talked with the assistant principal, explained what happened and what I was doing about it. He did let me know he would have to suspend my son if caught even if he was defending himself. He also said he was raising 3 boys and was raising them the same way. He told his sons he would always support them if they got suspended for defending himself.

3 weeks ago, I get a call from school that my son had popped another kid on 2 different days. My wife and I showed up that afternoon when school was dismissing. I'm a pretty big man and heard one of the kids ask, "Who is that big man coming in here?" The teacher told me what happened. I asked my son if the other boy hit him first and he admitted no he didn't. I told him from this point on, if someone is picking on him or even hits him, he was to go get a teacher immediately and not hit back. I explained he had broken the rule of not hitting first and now the rules are changing. You see my son has combination ADD and ADHD. His medicine keeps him in check during school but he does get a bit unruly after hit wears off. This is a difficult situation for a parent but one my wife and I handle. He did not understand the rule change at first so I had to explain it to him a couple of times. (Symptom of his illness)

He came in yesterday and said a kid tripped him, so he got a teacher immediately. Yahoo, he paid attention and remembered. Sorry for lengthy story.

Public Schools: Many parents look at the school system as a place to dump their kids and hope they help raise their kids. Sorry folks, that is not what it is there for. You have to send your kids to school with the right attitude and expect them to follow the guidelines. I was raised if you got a whipping at school, you got one when you got home. People send there kids to school when they are sick and have no business going and of course your kid comes down with the illness. If your kid is not disciplined at home, he/she will be unruly in school as well. If you don't teach them to respect others at home, don't expect them to do it at school. Values have to be instilled in children during their growing years. No values now, no values later. It's like the old term about information from a comptuter, "Garbage in, garbage out."

Most schools cannot use discipline any longer. Kids know this and can get by with quite a bit. Yes, we have bad teachers and we have great teachers. This is the same in any occupation. We don't need to make their job harder by not preparing our kids on how to act in school.

Gun Control: We have background checks on anyone purchasing a firearm. They are denied if they have "reported" mental problems or a criminal record. No guns allowed signs basically keep law abiding citizens from defending themselves. Do you think a bank robber really cares there is a "No guns allowed" sign on the door at a bank? Criminals are going to find weapons. It's not that hard. Heck, are government armed the cartels in Mexico.

My wife and I got our concealed carry permits at the same time. We went to class together and qualified at the range together. We enjoy going to the range. All my guns are locked in a safe or hidden in a place my son cannot get to. I usually keep one gun in a place I can get to in an emergency. I DO NOT lay it my night stand or in a drawer. I talk with my son every now and then to make sure he remembers the rules about guns. One night I had a friend ask me if I was scared to have guns around my child. My friend was thinking about getting a carry permit. I said, let me show you something.

I laid my gun (unloaded of course) on the couch 2 feet away from us. I asked my son to come to the kitchen. Sure enough he noticed the gun on the couch and said "Daddy, there's a gun. I'm not supposed to touch it. I'm supposed to get an adult." Good job son. My son doesn't think about me having a gun on me except when he comes to give me a hug and hits his head on the butt. My friend was quite impressed with his reaction. I told him, it is all in how you raise your children and using common sense.

Video Games and Movies: I truly believe if you let kids play hard core shoot them up games for years and watch a lot of violent movies you are asking for problems. The violence isn't violence to them after a while. You are supposed to shoot if you get angry, you are supposed to kill if you get angry, you get the picture. All these actors in Hollywood say how we should have more gun control or bans on weapons, then turn around and act in movies shooting everything in sight. We can't do away with the violent movies, that would take away their income. Most of these people couldn't act without all the special effects anyway. I am not down on movies, I enjoy watching them. Make violent movies 18+ only and stick by it. It doesn't matter if they are accompanied by an adult. Honestly, I am not saying a kid should be hidden from all this, but they should not be allowed to stay constantly consumed by it. Common sense applies once again.

I apologize if I have rambled. I am at work and my wife and son are here as well, so I am typing with a log of interruptions and I lose my train of thought. Basically what I am saying is we cannot stop every misfortune from happening in this country. More people are killed with blunt instruments each year than guns. Taking guns from people leaving them defenseless to protect themselves is not the answer. Using the public schools as a daycare system isn't either. We have to assume responsibility for our own actions as an adult and parent. You only get out of it what you put into it. Stay alert and be observant to anything that seems out of place. Let's not forget what happened to these innocent children and try to prevent anything like this from happening again.

Just remember, we have had murderers, rapists, robbers and thieves since the beginning of time. Make the punishments harsher may make people think twice. Our justice system has become a joke and we are constantly putting criminals back on the streets due to overcrowding. Our country's "Politically correct attitude" is pushing us over the edge. We (I speak as a country) are the problem. We have created many of our own problems.

[satman80]

Couldn't have said it better myself!! 100+ Likes!

[johnlgalt]

What I don't understand why everyone thinks the solutions to this type of issue is by arming the teachers. How about we take a easier solution? Have all the doors locked with a pass key entry on all of them except the front door where there will be a reception area. That is how my college is designed. The reason the traditions like these happen is due to the fact that anyone can walk into the building and never be questioned. While most businesses buildings are locked downed to unauthorized personal. I don't understand how this was over looked.

Keycards are easy to duplicate, steal, or hack. remember, if it is digital, it is never 100% secure.

<snip>

And *I* thought I rambled.... lol.

I applaud you. You and I seem to be very like minded on this issue and the issues that you and I covered, both jointly and individually. The biggest problem I see is right in the heart of your soliloquy - parents are trying to abscond from their obligation to raise their kids - you mention that they dump kids on the pubic school system expecting teachers and staff to mete out discipline and teach responsibility as well as give them an education. But it is not just the school system tat they are relying on - they are completely and unfailingly absconding any responsibility in raising a child.

Children need to be nurtured and loved, but they also need to be TAUGHT. You said it an I'm saying it - and we come from 2 different worlds, and yet I admire you for the wherewithall to try your best to make your trials and errors turn more into successes and learning experiences. If only more parents were concerned about their kids like you are - this country would not be in a mess. And our kids would not be needlessly dying.

[Brutus06]

Keycards are easy to duplicate, steal, or hack. remember, if it is digital, it is never 100% secure.

I agree with that, but they do stop someone that is on a killing spree from just walking in and start shooting. I feel that it would be a simpler solution then arming teachers like I have seen suggested so often. I really don't like the idea that we leave our schools full of our children completely open to the public. I don't even keep my house unlocked when I am at home, why would I want my daughter in a building with every door unlocked where anyone can walk in? Therefore having school with security systems would be more practical for everyday uses besides a crisis.

[satman80]

If they could only Ban stupid,
I think that would solve almost all the problems, that and maybe teach common sense, you can't learn everything from a book these days. like some say, its all up to the parents to teach our kids the difference between right and wrong, unfortunately, some parents expect to have kids, and have everyone else take care of them, just feeding kids and putting them to bed is not taking care of your kids, nor is talking to your kids while a parent is txting, & facebook, etc..

Now I know I may be a tech addict, however, I do not agree with spending time more on the social nonsense rather than going outside and playing with the kids. I saw some parents using sports as a daycare. Drop them off and have the coach do the rest is unacceptable, especially when I hear one parent say "I spent a lot of money for this". I am not pointing fingers at anyone, this is just what I see and what my opinion is.

Laws were meant to prevent others from hurting others, but now we have laws that prevent us from hurting our self or laws that prevent stupid, this is just getting out of hand, why, because it does not teach our kids anything, and it doesn't bring our kids into a place we use to call America anymore, the land of the free is now the land of the law. Laws are raising our kids, not the parents anymore.

Personally I don't feel kids should be going to schools like a prison, we shouldn't have to have an armed guard in the schools, we shouldn't have to change our gun laws but yet only enforce the current laws. The problem with putting all these restrictions on our rights is, it puts more guns in the hands of criminals (yes the one's who didn't pay $100's of dollars). The problem with stupid well, don't leave your guns out or teach a mentally unstable kid how to shoot one either, but for me that is common sense.

I guess if everyone wants the government raising America, then maybe we need a law to see if the family is acting accordingly once a month, I mean why not, at this point everyone wants laws laws laws, and the same one's asking for the laws are probably the same people breaking them. I just don't know anymore. the whole thing is sad and sick.

[rickw]

I know I'll get ripped for this,but parents allowing kids to play these shot and kill video games is the dumbest thing i ever saw in my life.I know there're marked mature over 18 or whatever,but parents are still buying this crap for 12 yr olds,when they play it on their tv and they get hyped up what comes next?the real thing to get the same excitement,ENOUGH SAID-sorry

[satman80]

I know I'll get ripped for this,but parents allowing kids to play these shot and kill video games is the dumbest thing i ever saw in my life.I know there're marked mature over 18 or whatever,but parents are still buying this crap for 12 yr olds,when they play it on their tv and they get hyped up what comes next?the real thing to get the same excitement,ENOUGH SAID-sorry

No you wont get ripped for this, its no worse than a parent bringing a kid under 10 into a movie rated R with thinking someone getting shot or blown up is something funny. Or having them watch the news, you know the media that tells the world about how to break into a house by key bumping or a how to on how to make a simple marker to break into hotels, or whatever it may be. I can go on for hours, but also the Media takes no responsibility for always putting nasty stuff on tv either. Who is the first one at homicide or accident. Media, who is scaring the world, Media.. Yet they have rights to do anything lol, they are never responsible for things like posting address of gun owners, down to the names of the people.. unreal..

[Oaklands]

I know I'll get ripped for this,but parents allowing kids to play these shot and kill video games is the dumbest thing i ever saw in my life.I know there're marked mature over 18 or whatever,but parents are still buying this crap for 12 yr olds,when they play it on their tv and they get hyped up what comes next?the real thing to get the same excitement,ENOUGH SAID-sorry

You won't get ripped by me. 100% agree.

[Nitewolf]

And... it continues

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What I don't understand is why this kid was even allowed in school. He had a hit list that was a year old ... and people knew it!

[usmcamgrimm]

Has anyone some of this new conspiracy theory nonsense about the shooting in Ct? What a load of crap

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[tw1n5nak35]

Has anyone some of this new conspiracy theory nonsense about the shooting in Ct? What a load of crap

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I just heard about this the other day. That one of the daughters that was a victim in the shooting, showed up to the speech that President Obama gave. And that the daughter who they said was murdred, was actually the wrong name. I can't believe people think of this kind of stuff. Like everyone that the 9/11 was conspiracy. But it took a while for it to surface, I mean years. The sandy hook incident only took about a month. It goes to show that for terrible people, can conjour up rumors, exploit a tragedy and try to turn it around that is was a conspiracy or hoax. It's unbelievable really.