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elSicomoro · 06-21-2001, 10:58 AM

There is one thing to note about these school killings (and I or someone else may have mentioned it before): They have all happened in rural areas or in suburbs. And they have all been committed by whites (at least to my recollection...don't remember the San Diego case). Had this happened in, say Philadelphia, people would have probably just said, "See...look what happens in inner city schools." But had this happened in, say Warminster (a suburb), people would have been shocked and outraged: "How can this happen in our community?" In general, it seems that things don't tend to get SERIOUS attention until they occur in the suburbs--drug use/abuse, shootings, etc.

At the same time, no one has seemed to come up with the WHY of all this. And we may never know. In the case of Columbine, I think the kids were simply outsiders and didn't have a better way within themselves to deal with it. We can't point the finger at Marilyn Manson or KMFDM. And I don't think it's completely fair to point the finger at parents...and this applied to ANY type of crime. There are simply some people in this world that are BAD. There are also some kids that are simply hard-headed and tend to follow rather than lead. There are a ton of factors involved in all of this...and all too quickly, people want to blame one thing--in the case of Columbine, it was Marilyn Manson first, then the parents were under the microscope. As much as people may think I'm insane, those two shooters were victims too, in their own way.

I was very fortunate that I had a loving mother and stepfather, a roof over my head, and Catholic schooling. I am also fortunate that I made the right choices as a teenager (other than occasional alcohol and drug use...but that's another story ;-) ). I can't make people do anything, but I always try to stress positivity to the younger generation...I hope it has sank in in some way. I hope my good example has made an impression on my 18-year old brother, who seems to be on the right path.

06-21-2001, 10:58 AM	#2
elSicomoro Person who doesn't update the user title Join Date: Jan 2001 Posts: 12,486	There is one thing to note about these school killings (and I or someone else may have mentioned it before): They have all happened in rural areas or in suburbs. And they have all been committed by whites (at least to my recollection...don't remember the San Diego case). Had this happened in, say Philadelphia, people would have probably just said, "See...look what happens in inner city schools." But had this happened in, say Warminster (a suburb), people would have been shocked and outraged: "How can this happen in our community?" In general, it seems that things don't tend to get SERIOUS attention until they occur in the suburbs--drug use/abuse, shootings, etc. At the same time, no one has seemed to come up with the WHY of all this. And we may never know. In the case of Columbine, I think the kids were simply outsiders and didn't have a better way within themselves to deal with it. We can't point the finger at Marilyn Manson or KMFDM. And I don't think it's completely fair to point the finger at parents...and this applied to ANY type of crime. There are simply some people in this world that are BAD. There are also some kids that are simply hard-headed and tend to follow rather than lead. There are a ton of factors involved in all of this...and all too quickly, people want to blame one thing--in the case of Columbine, it was Marilyn Manson first, then the parents were under the microscope. As much as people may think I'm insane, those two shooters were victims too, in their own way. I was very fortunate that I had a loving mother and stepfather, a roof over my head, and Catholic schooling. I am also fortunate that I made the right choices as a teenager (other than occasional alcohol and drug use...but that's another story ;-) ). I can't make people do anything, but I always try to stress positivity to the younger generation...I hope it has sank in in some way. I hope my good example has made an impression on my 18-year old brother, who seems to be on the right path.