Yet another school shooting. Yet again only in America. What is happening to our society?

Question

This does not occur in other countries,in foreign schools.

I stand corrected. Yes they happen in other countries, but not to the frequency that they do here. Also, I am talking about seemingly innocent people who just snap and decide to kill others(students). I am not talking about suicide bombers or separatists with political agendas.

Answer 1

it happened at least twice in canada...but yeah, it's really terrible! in schools?!?!?

Answer 2

Okay, we have established that, yes, these tragedies happen in other countries. I remember sitting up at 3:30 in the morning, sobbing after I heard about those kids in Russia. It doesn't matter where it happened, it's a tragedy that affects all walks of life. Everybody has a point here. Lots of violent video games and movies. We are desensitized to violence. Many homes either have both parents working, or it is a single parent home, and the children are lacking guidance. What should children or folks from other countries think when the majority of the American news stories are about Anna Nicole? Controversy and tragedy are glamorous?
This is a cliche but it really does take a village to raise a child, or in this case, a nation. People used to know their neighbors, knew which house that neighbor kid belonged to, etc.
If you're curious, look up the number of shooting deaths in countries of the world. I heard this on Fahrenheit9/11 but I heard it before also. Other large countries have something like double digit numbers of shooting deaths annually. America? It's a huge number every year. What should we do? I don't know, maybe try to get into politics and change laws, get involved. Become police officers? How about starting small with a neighborhood watch. If everyone did something, anything, to look out for the next fellow, we would all be in good shape.
God Bless, say a prayer for all of us.

Answer 3

There is so much violence on T.V. that kids and adults find it so normal now. I mean think about it.....should 13 or 14 year olds, I don't know just off the top of my head be watching a a video about beating another kid. NO! Well guess what, they do because I've seen it first hand when I have to tell kids @ school to turn off those violent videos on youtube or google. Kids are being exposed to all these things that when they grow older and are involved in a situation like today's, where it is believed the gun man might have had an arguement w/his girlfriend, the only thing that comes to mind is violence. On a different note, it's more than likely that this man who caused all these heartaches could have been known to have done something bizarre throughtout his life. When raising a child, parents need to pay a lot of attention to how their children react to everything. If something seems not so normal it's best to consult a doctor. This man was what I would call "not normal".....think about it, if your boyfriend or girlfriend where to break up with u would you go and shoot everyone who came across you? No, because when compared to a killer, they (the killer) have a chemical imbalance.

Answer 4

My condolences to all the families. This is why I am afraid of letting my kids go away to college. Noone is safe anywhere. This does happen everywhere and in all countries. It is not enough to just break up with a person or get a bad grade or get teased on. These people have to take their revenge on the people who wronged them. There really is no course of action - we ban guns but the law cannot be enforced everywhere - not enough police. We allow guns then we might have a gun battle, because someone looked at someone wrong. There has to be a medium somewhere - but as of yet we have not been able to find it. We as parents need to teach and show our children that being rude, disrespectful, mean bullies will not gain us anything. But then you see the Trumps, Gates & Winfreys of the world and you see that they are teaching our children to be spiteful and backstabbing so they can rise in the corporate world.

Answer 5

The problem is parents are no longer raising their children. The US has become so expensive to live in, that most families have to have 2 parents working. So what you have is a bunch of kids raised by TV and Video games. Now violent TV and Video Games is not the cause. The cause is there is no parental supervision to explain how the images are bad, so kids grow up with no direction and become desensitized to violence. So acting out in such a violent way seems normal. Plus you have to understand, without parents around, children look at the TV to learn what is an acceptable reaction to everyday events. So if someone gets broken up with, they act out like a sitcom. So how do we fix this? Easy if you own a gun, teach your children the dangers of it. Also limit the amount of TV and video games they play. Also take the time to monitor what they watch as well as what they view on the Internet. All this comes down to is being a better parent. Don't blame society for all the problems. We are a people need to take responsibility for our own families.

Answer 6

Unfortunately America has the greatest society in the world because of the freedoms and so forth that we have. However, looking at what happens I think that our society as a group has failed. We allow this type of behavior to go on and its not Video games, rap songs, or movies that make this happen. Things like that help encourage people with the idea to do it. They have something to blame it on. This country many younger people have not been taught morals. There parent verbally abuse more now then physically. When a person has no self esteem and no want for anything its not hard to see them go off on someone else when he gets made fun.

I think its bull because that person gets the idea to go and kill many others because they are harmed mentally. With such a great society as we have morals have gone out the door. There is no way to honestly say why but there are things to help prevent it and that means parents need to actually be parents.

Most of these kids do not exist in there parents lives. And when they are its because of something big or because they are in trouble but when it comes to raising them and teaching them parents fail. I always look and blame them. Sorry that my thighs are a little juggled its just hard to speak about this because its so confusing and hurt full to see all this happening.

Answer 7

Violence plays such a large role in american lifestyles that I'm not suprised that this happened (again). You've got some of the most ridiculous firearm laws I have ever seen. Nowhere is it as easy to get a gun. You grow up in a country where war is constantly in the picture. When someone says the word America, the first thing that goes through my mind is war, think of it, its true. And then there's the unstable social side to the american lifestyle. Put all of this together and you get things like this happening. This is just just my though, don't shoot because of it.

Answer 8

The UK had two major massacres by lone gunmen with little motive - the Hungerford massacre when a man walked through a town and DUnblaine massacre when a man walked into a primary school.
After both attacks public opinion led to clamp downs on gun ownership and security in the country which limits access to guns. Obviously in recent years we have had a problem with illegal gun imports but these are mainly used for gang crime at the moment.
I think that most of these perpertrators are isolated angry men who have a lot of rage at society - this isn't to excuse their actions but we need to understand the reason they happen more in certain societies not others to prevent them happening again.

Answer 9

I must disagree with kermit. While stronger gun laws may decrease the number of weapons available, an individual who is planning a crime so heinous as a school shooting will go to any length necessary to obtain the required weapons. In any case, many of the weapons used in shootings are obtained illegally anyway. I believe the real cause of the degradation of our society is lack of morals. Actions set stronger examples than words. When the actions the youth of our culture are subjected to are those of senseless killing and violence through various media such as television and video games, how can we expect anything other than senseless killing and violence? In the last century, violence has been on the rise. In the last century, our morals have plummeted. Coincidence? I think not.

Answer 10

the world is getting flushed down the proverbial toilet. I did not know anyone at va. tech. and yet out of all the recent tragic events that have occurred in the past few years or so, this one I find exceptionally horrific and appalling. Just the very thought of what occurred today makes me sick to my stomach. I won't even watch news coverage of it, and when it suddenly comes on I immediately turn my t.v. off. This one I find especially repugnant.....I can't place why exactly but I have been really upset about all day, since first hearing the breaking news this morning. I lost a roommate a few years ago, (she took her own life) and so I know first hand what those poor students are going thru. It is a life changing, earth shattering event for an individual to have to go thru, and one that will change a lot about them as a person. I sit and wonder what is wrong with the world, and truthfully it makes me so sad when I think about it. The world is changing into a very dark place when we think about 9-11, Columbine, the Wv. mine tragedy, Darfur, Iraq just to name a few ...and now this. My outlook on the world and us as a race has no doubly been changed by the many horrific events that have unfurled across this country and the world during my lifetime. I sit and ask myself "How did we get to this place?" There is no short answer to this question of "what is happening to our society" personally, I think we as a society and as a race are slowly unraveling ourselves bit by bit, and it is absolutely disgraceful! As a society we have managed to cling on and endure despite it all....but you got to ask yourself ,with all that is wrong with our society, do we really deserve to endure? And for that matter endure as a race, when we are capable of such acts?

Answer 11

Yes it does. I am sure if goes all over, just doesn't inform everyone about it. Wish parents would teach their kids some respect for others. I wish they would talk and listen to their kids. My son goes to college in the fall and I am scared to death. I guess I will just have to hope and pray he will be okay. He already knows right from wrong. He is a great kid. His school tells me how much everyone (teachers and students) enjoy him and look up to him and how well he is in school. I guess I just have to hope he takes that goodness to college with him and does what is right and expected of him. Wish there were other parents like me out there who spends alot of time with their children. I am not perfect, but I am there for my kids all the time and we have an awesome relationship. I pray for the victims in Virginia and all their families and friends. May this never happen again.