Shik
Starship database: completed; History of Starfleet: done; website: probably never
Member # 343
posted
A recent journal entry I posted on my site, reposted here for dissection and debate.
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When in doubt, legislate.
Something is seriously wrong with this nation's children. That's evidenced by the rash of school shootings of late. But even more evident is the fact that there's something wrong with this nation's adults, particularly in the administrative governmental sections. That much is evidenced by this article from the front page of Sunday's edition of the local rag that purports to be and has the audacity to call itself a newspaper.
So let's get this right: we're going to use seminars and workshops to regulate anger in children now? Didn't they try that "freaky feelgood" shit with my generation? It didn't work then, why should it work now? No. I had a very interesting debate with someone recently over this, with someone who was still in high school when Columbine occurred and who was one of those "target students" singled out as a potential likely candidate for doing the same thing:
i dunno. i think bullying is part of all this.
Yes...but to try to LEGISLATE it?
someone has to do something and it'not like schools have ever given a fuck. why should a beating in a school yard be ignored by one in a public mall or park be assault?
You can't simply legislate away that kind of thing, though. Seminars and "expression of anger" workshops isn't a solution.
well, what is?
Honor...respect...responsibility....
and that's fucking likely to appear in a bully's mind any time soon?
Did you ever pull a gun? No. Did I ever pull a gun? No..a sword once, but it was out of context.
i thought about it. a lot. long before columbine.
So did I. But you never DID it. Thought is not action.
*shrugs* we didn't have a gun at home.
All I know is that this will only end in fire. You can't legislate away a basic fundamental flaw of human nature.
they've tried it with every other.
And it hasn't worked then, either.
all i'm saying is that at least they're finally paying attention to an actual cause of the problem instead of marilyn manson and trenchcoats.
:::holds up hands & tilts head::: I'll say this: if it DOES work, I'd be very surprised...and if it does work, then all the better. Yes. I agree completely. It's a step in the right direction...but it's not the "quick fix" that they want anymore than blaming Manson & others. As truly horrid as this is going to sound....part of the blame lies with the kids being bullied as well. Not a lot, but enough to matter.
no one thing can be a fix, quick or not. it has to *start* somewhere.
Yes, but legislation? On a statewide level? :::shrugs::: I don't know. On a personal level, I'm apprehensive about a government mandate telling children how to behave and it taking the form of "feel good" psychology. They tried that before with us in the 80s & it didn't work then, either. But...on the same level...you're absolutely right. Things have gotten to a head among this nation's children. Something neecds to be done, something drastic & dramatic at a fundamental level. But they're not going to listen to it as it's couched here.
*shrugs*
:::throws up hands::: Maybe it's all in mindset. You dealt with it your way, I dealt with it mine, Bill dealt--OK, Bill never really ever dealt with it.
Bullying is something that's been around since the ascent of man (or maybe more properly, DESCENT--"Ishmael" had an effect on me) and it's not bloody likely to ever end. Still, if it works....power to it, I guess.
------------------ "For people with resources, the right events happen. They may look like coincidences, but they arise out of necessity." --T�rk Hviid
[This message has been edited by Shik (edited March 27, 2001).]
posted
The state of children and school violence in your country is a very serious problem, and, given the past two weeks, an almost epidemic problem.
Yet no one seems to realize this. Until someone realizes this, you are useless. I haven't heard - until your post - about any action taken by anyone who could take it. Perhaps the methods that are being taken won't work, maybe they will fail. But, at the very least, something's getting done.
And you need to do something.
------------------ "Instructed by history and reflection, Julian was persuaded that, if the diseases of the body may sometimes be cured by salutary violence, neither steel nor fire can eradicate the erroneous opinions of the mind."
-Edward Gibbons, The Decline and Fall of The Roman Empire.
posted
I fail to see the relevence of the speakout article in the context of the proposed legislation against bullying. "They can't search my locker!" Lord provide.
"Schoolhouses are looking more like jailhouses"
As well they should, given the frequency of your deranged students barging in with guns blazing.
------------------ "Instructed by history and reflection, Julian was persuaded that, if the diseases of the body may sometimes be cured by salutary violence, neither steel nor fire can eradicate the erroneous opinions of the mind."
-Edward Gibbons, The Decline and Fall of The Roman Empire.
posted
Nope. But kids need to stop being killed. That's my proposal.
------------------ "Instructed by history and reflection, Julian was persuaded that, if the diseases of the body may sometimes be cured by salutary violence, neither steel nor fire can eradicate the erroneous opinions of the mind."
-Edward Gibbons, The Decline and Fall of The Roman Empire.
------------------ Star Trek Gamma Quadrant Average Rated 8.32 out of 10 Smileys by Fabrux (with seven eps posted) *** "Oh, yes, screw logic, let's go for a theory with no evidence!" -Omega 11:48am, Jan. 19th, 2001
Shik
Starship database: completed; History of Starfleet: done; website: probably never
Member # 343
posted
So we legislate? No...that's a non-answer. It's a fundamental philosophical problem. Nothing less than a reexamination of our culture will stop all this.
------------------ "For people with resources, the right events happen. They may look like coincidences, but they arise out of necessity." --T�rk Hviid
posted
Well, HOW isn't sitting around, fiddling thumbs, and sayig "The constitution said this", or "second amendment, here we come!" Which, from what I gather from TV, is what happens whenever anyone tries to propose anything to anyone. (Irregardless of the fact that it may or may not help, it's still non-action)
------------------ "Instructed by history and reflection, Julian was persuaded that, if the diseases of the body may sometimes be cured by salutary violence, neither steel nor fire can eradicate the erroneous opinions of the mind."
-Edward Gibbons, The Decline and Fall of The Roman Empire.
posted
Working to control things like bullying would probably be a good place to start. Note how I don't say stop, because I don't think that's a realistic expectation. And that sort of thing is probably best handled on the local, school by school level.
Of course, it's much more fun to blame all of this on Cuba.
posted
If parents teach their kids to behave like human beings, the incidence of bullying will drop dramatically.
Today's adults have taught their children that they're entitled to everything they want, RIGHT NOW. There's very little discipline. There's NO patience. There's NO respect for authority or other people.
Poor ideas on personal responsibility, space, and property (promoted by various factions of the everyday culture from rap music on down), have let to a nation of people who cannoy control themselves, and don't WANT to.
Yes, that's right, it's CIVILITY. The issue that people've been making fun of Bush for callimg important.
------------------ The government that seems the most unwise, oft goodness to the people best supplies. That which is meddling, touching everything, will work but ill, and disappointment bring. - The Tao Te Ching
posted
Please, please look at the world's history. People don't do things cause they want or need to, they do it cause they CAN!! Human nature in itself is evil, there is only gradients of how much one can control oneself, that's what makes Hitler different from everyday people. He didn't f***ing feel like controlling himself and his urges.
------------------ "Well if it's gonna be that kind of a party, I'm putting my dick in the mashed potatoes!"
posted
and he died in a bunker, and the whole world will hate him forever. Many people believe he was insane, most people know he was a fool. Ther've also been some doubts about his potency, if you want to go that far.
If that's the kind of legacy you want, fine.
The rest of us are more highly evolved, thanks.
In my personal opinion, being able to control yourself is one of the qualifications for being considered human. If you can't control your baser impulses, you're an animal, a dangerous one, and should be treated as such.
------------------ The government that seems the most unwise, oft goodness to the people best supplies. That which is meddling, touching everything, will work but ill, and disappointment bring. - The Tao Te Ching
posted
Hitler may have been pure evil, but if you used your head once in a while you'd see that he was a genius, and no decent historian will deny that. He pulled Germany out of the gutter and made it a world power that would have conquered all of Europe if it wasn't for Canada, and then later the US. TO be able to rally an entire people so they will beleive in you and follow you blindly takes a hell of a lot of intelligence and oratory skills.
------------------ "Well if it's gonna be that kind of a party, I'm putting my dick in the mashed potatoes!"
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