Parental Filter

The anniversary of the Virginia Tech massacre brings this question...

Have you spoken with your kids about these situations and the steps they would take to be safe? Or have you opted to not scare them and hope it never becomes an issue?

I think that anyone with school-age children should make sure they tell them all the ways they can make themselves safer, should that horror happen to them.
I worked across the street from the hospital where the Thurston High kids were taken after that shooting, had a front-row seat as it were...it's something I've never forgotten.

I don't think I would discuss this with a child unless the conversation was started by them. These are terrible events, but not really something you can prepare a child for.

I think there are things that can and should be done to improve school security, but there is very little a young person can do if they are unfortunate enough to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

I think it would be more productive if we put our efforts into working out why we are producing disaffected young people who would contemplate something so terrible. when we understand what is going wrong perhaps we can do something about it.

Good thoughts, justontime. I wonder if (and this thought just came to me now, haven't fully thought it out yet) it's the 24 hour constant news coverage and "15 minutes of fame" that might fuel some of it? What do you think?

If they wouldn't become "famous" suddenly and no one except the hometown would hear about it constantly, do you think it might be a step in the right direction?

I guess that's true enough. We can say things like "dive under a desk" or "lie very still" but there's no way to know what would set an attacker off. Plus I hope there'd be an adult with them giving that same advice.

I don't think it's the "fifteen minutes of fame" that motivate the shooters. I don't think the fame thought even enters their heads.
These shooters are severely disturbed. Their motivating factor, for the majority, is that dad or granddad's gun collection is open to them, and they have the mistaken idea in their poor sick minds that shooting up their school is going to help them in some way.
I can't believe that the men who leave firearms in the hands of children are not prosecuted in some way. No, it's not enough punishment that their child did this horrible act. They empowered them with their firearms.
Every time I hear of another shooting, I cannot understand why congress doesn't have the guts to introduce and legislate sane gun control laws.

There was terrible incident at Dunblane Scotland in 1996 when a man entered a primary school and killed 16 five year olds and their teacher, leaving many others injured. That lead to much tighter gun laws in UK and a huge increase in school security. I wonder what it will take in USA before they do something about gun law.

Reform of gun laws is long overdue, but there still is no political will too deal with it