School Shootings (revisited #2)

I am going to do one more post for today. This one revisiting again the issue of school shootings. Why, you may ask? While, my last post labeled links to my other articles on school shootings, and that prompted me to blog search for school shootings. I briefly, glazed over articles on school shootings including the one below. It attempted to argue that a cause for these types of shootings resulted from an absolute zero tolerance policy by schools. At first, glance I rejected the argument mostly out of a gut-reaction…

I quickly then decided some extra thought; mostly because I am not a fan of zero tolerance policies because I have been a victim of them. There is nothing like being victimized three-times over: (1) originally by the aggressor, (2) by the institution/administration/teachers because of being blamed for the event—because it takes two too tango mentality, and (3) by the aggressor who then holds it over you that they got you in trouble and takes the attitude that if you report anything else in the future that you will get in trouble to.

I thought about it for awhile and decide that I agreed with one argument and disagreed with the author’s other argument. I disagreed with that there was a correlation between zero tolerance policies and school shootings: after all, lots of students put-up with those policies and never go on a school shooting.

Besides school shootings are often planned: do not get me wrong, I am not saying it takes a genius. What I am saying is those that do school shootings often target specific people or/and specific types of people (or at least this is the impression I get from news stories). The shooters often either stock-pile weapons or it appears (again it seems according to news) obtaining weapons close to the event; however, with what seems with enough time to consider what they are going to do. In other words, school shootings are not spontaneous events.

What then could the relationship between zero tolerance policies and school shootings? I believe the author was trying to also say that zero tolerance policies adds to the ‘load that breaks the camel’s back’: place a student in an environment where he or she is struggling, getting victimized, tell them they are to blame (for the situation—fight, etc.--which might mean to them that you are blaming them for being themselves), make them feel they are in competition for social approval by standards they cannot achieve (not just by their peers but by society i.e., athletic, perfect grades, etc.) and it does not seem so hard to see how this is a dangerous mix.





http://eliminatethestigma.wordpress.com/2007/12/25/an-alternate-viewpoint-on-school-shootings/