The NeverEnding Story: Another School Shooting

[Lady Dragonfly]

So, it's happened again. Are you surprised? Another school shooting, this time in Cleveland, OH.

CLEVELAND - A gunman opened fire in a downtown high school on Wednesday, and five people were taken to a hospital, the mayor said.

The suspected shooter, a 14-year-old boy, apparently killed himself after the rampage, police said.

The student identified as the shooter by students at the school had been suspended Monday for fighting, said Charles Blackwell, president of SuccessTech's student-parent organization. School officials said the suspect was not supposed to be at school that day.
.....
The shooting occurred across the street from the FBI office in downtown Cleveland, and students were being sent to the FBI site.


5 hurt in school shooting - Crime & Punishment - MSNBC.com

Incidentally, the US Supreme Court is expected to "deliver its first ever holding on the meaning of the Second Amendment" this term; the gun control is among other controversial issues on the SC docket for 07-08.

[Fiberfar]

My initial thought was that someone has made a sport out of school shootings. No offence intended.
Suprised? Nope, not at all. It's sad that something like that happens (again).

I wonder what the media will blame?
Violent computer games, depression, heavy metal and devil worship?

[Lady Dragonfly]

Originally Posted by Fiberfar

My initial thought was that someone has made a sport out of school shootings. No offence intended.
Suprised? Nope, not at all. It's sad that something like that happens (again).

I wonder what the media will blame?
Violent computer games, depression, heavy metal and devil worship?

I did not get the "sport" part, but that's fine.

I am not sure who or what will be eventually blamed for the shooting, but that is what one of the students told the reporters:

Student Frances Henderson, 14, said she often got into arguments with Coon, who once told her, “I got something for you all.” He was a “gothic” who usually wore a trench coat, black boots and a dog collar, she said.
...
The school has about 240 mainly black students with a small number of white and Hispanic students.

Coon was white and Henderson, the student who said she frequently argued with him, is black, but she said she didn’t believe race played a role in the shootings.

[DesR85]

Originally Posted by Fiberfar

I wonder what the media will blame?
Violent computer games, depression, heavy metal and devil worship?

Most likely all of them (or at least one of them). I sometimes hate mainstream media when it comes to these incidents. Always never get their facts straight and always biased. Oh, and not to mention, the idiot lawyer, Jack Thompson will surely jump on the bandwagon and starts to criticise violent games again, the same thing he did after the Virginia Tech shootings.

[Maharlika]

I think the key area here is focusing on just how many structures are in place that help support and address student behavior-related problems. This also includes how students are disciplined in order for learning to effectively take place at school.

How do schools address bullying?

How do schools address specific student problems?

We have also "Goths." I think that a number of our youths have access to deadly weapons too, but such school shootings never occured here in the Phils. I have yet to hear one if there ever was one.

Culture perhaps? Maybe. *shrugs*

[Shrike86]

Well, at least except for him self no-one else got killed, and so far there's no signs that's he was a gamer.

[Fiberfar]

Originally Posted by Shrike86

Well, at least except for him self no-one else got killed, and so far there's no signs that's he was a gamer.

You can kill yourself in several games. The games Postal (wasn't that one banned in the U.S?) and Postal 2.
If the media want to, they'll be able to connect it to gaming.

[DesR85]

Originally Posted by Fiberfar

The games Postal (wasn't that one banned in the U.S?) and Postal 2.

It wasn't banned in the US (The developer was based in the US, by the way). If I recall correctly, the Postal series was banned in Australia and New Zealand prior to their release.

Originally Posted by Fiberfar

If the media want to, they'll be able to connect it to gaming.

I'm not surprised if the media use the same trick again.

[Lady Dragonfly]

Hold your horses, guys. Nobody haven't said anything about video games, yet. You will have a chance to vent your emotions when it actually happens. If it happens.
The gunman was mentally ill and had other problems.

There is some new info:

Coon’s troubles seemed to come to a breaking point this week. Students said Monday’s fight was over God — Coon told his classmates he didn’t believe in God and instead worshipped rocker Marilyn Manson.

McGrath said that since 2006, police had gone to Coon’s home five times: for calls about domestic violence, an assault call, a property crime and a hit-and-run accident.

Coon had spent time in two juvenile facilities and threatened to commit suicide while in a mental health facility, according to juvenile court records obtained by The Plain Dealer newspaper.

What do you think of this cocktail? Here is "depression and devil worship" Fiberfar mentioned. And a heated debate over the existence of God.

@Maharlika

I think the key area here is focusing on just how many structures are in place that help support and address student behavior-related problems. This also includes how students are disciplined in order for learning to effectively take place at school.

How do schools address bullying?

How do schools address specific student problems?

All good questions. Here are a few answers:

Coon, who was suspended Monday for fighting with a classmate and was under suspension at the time of the shootings, had warned classmates of an attack.
.....
A classmate said Thursday that he and others had warned their principal about threats by Asa Coon and said the attack could have been prevented.

The student, Rasheem Smith, said on CBS’ “Early Show” that despite their warnings, principal Johneita Durant told them she was too busy.

“I told my friends in the class that he had a gun and stuff,” said Smith, 15. “He was talking about doing it last week. I don’t know why they didn’t say nothing.

“We talked to the principal. She would try to get us all in the office, but it would always be too busy for it to happen,” Smith said.

Responding on the show, schools CEO Eugene Sanders said the district would investigate.
.....
There was an armed security guard at the school’s entrance, McGrath said, though it was not known how Coon got inside.

We have some young adults here, still in school or fresh out of school. I wonder, along with Mah, how schools address the behaivioral problems nowadays. Is it effective? Care to share you thoughts or personal experience?

[DesR85]

Originally Posted by Lady Dragonfly

We have some young adults here, still in school or fresh out of school. I wonder, along with Mah, how schools address the behaivioral problems nowadays. Is it effective? Care to share you thoughts or personal experience?

In Malaysia, the schools there use the corporal punishment when it comes to behavioural problems and they do call up the parents of that particular individual if it isn't resolved. I was pushed around a lot during the secondary school days and these safeguards didn't even work on those bullies. Got even worse up till the point of me ending up in several skirmishes with them. These experiences turned me into an insular person as a result.

I'm glad those days are behind me now, but the hatred of those bastards still linger up till this very day.

[Maharlika]

I think incidents like this one could have been avoided or averted before it got out of hand had the school has its own policy on Threat Assessment in place.

It seems to me that the said school doesn't have one. If they did, well, I guess they were sitting on the job.

[Kipi]

Originally Posted by Lady Dragonfly

Hold your horses, guys. Nobody haven't said anything about video games, yet. You will have a chance to vent your emotions when it actually happens. If it happens.
The gunman was mentally ill and had other problems.

Most of the cases the gunman or gunmen were mentally ill. Has it prevented media to blame games, music or movies? Nope.
- Expert: "The gunman was mentally ill, he took several pills to depression. He was beaten several times as child, he didn't have any friends and no-one liked him. He also used alcohol and drugs. Oh, and he played games"
- Media: "Okay, lets blame the games then!"

Okay, got a bit over there, but that's the basic way the media thinks in subjects like this.

[Maharlika]

Originally Posted by Kipi

Most of the cases the gunman or gunmen were mentally ill. Has it prevented media to blame games, music or movies? Nope.
- Expert: "The gunman was mentally ill, he took several pills to depression. He was beaten several times as child, he didn't have any friends and no-one liked him. He also used alcohol and drugs. Oh, and he played games"
- Media: "Okay, lets blame the games then!"

Okay, got a bit over there, but that's the basic way the media thinks in subjects like this.

Allow me to quote some interesting insights on the link that I just provided in my previous post. This quote is on pages 3 and 4.

Though school shootings are extensively covered in the news media, the information available in news reports IS NOT NECESSARILY complete, accurate, or balanced. News coverage is inherently hasty and often relies on sources who themselves have incomplete or inaccurate information. And journalists ordinarily do not have access to police and other investigative reports that may contain HIGHLY SIGNIFICANT but CONFIDENTIAL information about a school shooting incident or about the background, previous activities, and traits of the student or students who carried out the shooting.

To the extent that academics, researchers, and other specialists writing in professional publications base their articles on news accounts or other public sources, these too should be viewed with some reservations since they will also lack critical information available only in confidential school or law enforcement files.

News coverage magnifies a number of widespread but wrong or unverified impressions of school shooters. Among them are:

1. School violence is an epidemic.
2. All school shooters are alike.
3. The school shooter is always a loner.
4. School shootings are exclusively revenge motivated.
5. Easy access to weapons is THE most significant risk factor.
6. Unusual or aberrant behaviors, interests, hobbies, etc., are hallmarks of the student destined to become violent.

The last paragraph in this page is very much interesting and is really an eye-opener for those who tend to be myopic as regard to this issue:

School shootings and other forms of school violence are not just a school's problem or a law enforcement problem. They involve schools, families, and the communities. An adolescent comes to school with a collective life experience, both positive and negative, shaped by the environments of family, school, peers, community, and culture.

Out of that COLLECTIVE EXPERIENCE come values, prejudices, biases, emotions, and the student's responses to training, stress, and authority. His or her behavior at school is affected by the ENTIRE RANGE of EXPERIENCES and INFLUENCES.

NO ONE FACTOR IS DECISIVE.

By the same token, however, no one factor is completely without effect, which means that when a student has shown signs of potential violent behavior, schools and other community institutions do have the capacity --- and the responsibility --- to keep that potential from turning real.

Pardon me if I broke the paragraph into smaller ones. I find it easier to read and digest. In doing so, I'm giving certain points a more effective emphasis.