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Why did 11 students plot to kill third grade teacher?
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My oldest is a second grader so this headline out of Waycross, Georgia really caught my attention. I simply can't imagine my little girl coming up with or participating in such a thing. And while we are all sadly becoming accustomed to the periodic school shooting spree, we also find consolation in the fact that these heinous acts are the work of one, maybe two sad, deranged or mentally unstable loners. Or are they?
The ages involved in this most recent plot are a troubling fact, but so too are the number of children involved, eleven! According to a relative of the targeted teacher, each child had a specific task in the attack, including one who was assigned to "wipe up the blood".
Ever since Columbine, I've had a bone to pick with the parents of Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold. While their pain and need for private mourning were understandable, I always felt that at some point since the 1999 attack, they owed the victims, their families, and, yes, even the nation an honest explanation for what happened in their homes and families that led to such desolation, anger, and violence - especially since it spawned several copy-cat plots. It would have been one of the most important national discussions of our times, with incredible consequences for the children of our country. What were the signs they missed? What are the lessons? And what would they have done differently as parents and as a family to have helped these boys be less angry and more compassionate young men?
In the aftermath of Columbine, our country and media seemed fixated on how the school missed signs, but I was always wondering how the parents missed the signs and how those boys were able to plan, make and stockpile weapons in their own home without their parents knowing? Would parents of even a trouble youth who are present and actively trying to connect with their child, their friends, school and teachers have missed these signs?
The details of this recent Georgia plot have not been fully disclosed and perhaps we will learn that third graders are not capable of successfully executing a plan with the sophistication and precision of an older child. However the ages and number of kids involved nonetheless begs the question: "Why are these and so many other kids so angry?"
For decades we have heard media report, after media report listing the usual suspects: violence on television, video games and music. We've learned a lot about preventing bullying and teaching students to report even seemingly minor threats. And while schools are becoming adept at detecting and preventing attacks, at the heart, this is not a "school" problem, this is a "family" problem. Our teachers who serve our families cannot do their job if we as parents are not doing ours or at least trying to figure out how to do it better.
We need to have this national discussion. But we also need to seek the answers in a spirit of truth and honesty. We cannot allow political correctness and fear of offending or 'stepping on toes' interfere with our search for what are surely some ugly truths about the current state of many American families and its effect on kids. Like Eric and Dylan before them, these third graders are trying to tell us something. Are we listening?
Let's get the conversation going. Share your thoughts and ideas.....












ReaderComments (Page 3 of 3)
5-21-2010 @ 11:34AM
Stephanie Dougherty said...I really can't believe most adults and how they are acting these days. I'm 18 and i may only still be a teenager but i went through things with teachers just as every other child has and i think teachers are full of themselves. As are adults these days. Teachers have been getting really crazy and they pretty much yell at you or punish you for anything you do. I am totally discusted with how everyone treats children/students these days. If children are actually planning how to kill a teacher don't you think there might be a reason behind it? Instead of blaming it on the parents why don't teachers take a look at how they act towards those students or how they treat those students instead of pointing the finger at the parents, which by the way is really immature and downright ignorant if you ask me. The way teachers treat students is a very important key to tell why the students would do something like act out. Of course children get angry, sad, or even crazy because there are way too many responsibilities on their shoulders and when you have a teacher in school yelling at you everyday for probably stupid reasons obviously kids are going to lash out somehow. When you think of all the things kids have to deal with, teachers are the number one problem. Teachers are honestly getting sticky fingers and write you up for detentions for pretty much everything and when the school calls your home saying their child has been unruly the parents are going to lash out on the kids just as kids lash out on teachers. So tell me who's at fault? Blaming the parents is a cowardly thing to do when all you have to blame is yourselves. When a parent is constantly getting calls from school syaing his/her child was bad they obviously will come up with some type of punishment and it's completely normal for a child to be upset at teachers for getting them in trouble. It's not always the students fault neither the parents because teachers know how parents are goin to react and yet they don't talk to the student first. Maybe try taking them out of class before or after and asking them whats wrong, or how about why they are acting the way they are. Teachers should be more careful at how they treat students and if every teacher cared about students the way they say they do students would not have a reason to lash out. Yes maybe there are problems at home but the major reason is school and grades. Kids come into school upset, teachers punish them for acting up. It's a viscious cycle that needs to be stopped because teachers don't know everything as much as they think they do. Teachers think they have the authority to tell a student when or how to act in school and yet you see teachers everyday doing the same things they are yelling at students for. Kids can't talk during class with other students because they are supposedly "interupting the classroom" yet other teachers can come into the classroom and talk with other teachers while "interupting" the classroom ALSO. Yes it's part of the teachers jobs but like students can't talk during class to others, teachers should not be able to interupt the classroom when talking to other teachers. Do it after or before class starts like everyone else has to. Just because your a teacher does not give you the AUTHORITY to do something you just yelled at a student for doing. When you think about it students have more authority over teachers since we are the future and the way you treat us will be the way we treat others when we get older. So it will not stop until YOU do. Also, when you look at it a student can say one bad thing about a teacher and it will ruin their entire career or even get them fired so i suggest teachers be a little more respectful of their future generation. I've had trouble with teachers alot but i am not a bad student it just makes me so angry when teachers think they can do whatever they want or talk down to a student in front of the entire classroom like the teachers are superior to them. Throughout our life as a student we are taught from day one to stick up for ourselves when we are bullied and yet when students do something about a teacher picking on them the students are always the one to blame. There are only a few in my life where i have had some great teachers who GENUINELY care for students but most teachers just sit in class on their computer or talk with another teacher during class and just give students work to do when they probably don't know how to do it since the teacher is too busy talking about how their day was instead of helping the students or how about this acutally TEACHING students like their supposed to after all that is their job. Not to punish students for what their wearing or how they act in school. Obviously if your getting a good grade in school and doing good in everything else thats all that matters. Things like school uniforms piss students off and of course teachers or even the school boards don't care until a student lashes out and speaks up about why uniforms should not be worn. We were taught to speak out and yet we get punished for it so don't blame students for doing what you TEACHERS taught us to do for our entire childhood, listen to them, to their ideas and just try and help them and show that you care by asking them how you can help better themselves. School is a joke and students are growing more and more volitile by the years. So before blaming parents or students look at yourselves and ask yourself how do i portray myself that could affect how my students are acting? I don't apologize to anyone if this message seems offensive because it is my opinion and more so every other students opinion and their opinion really does matter. There's a reason for everything..you just need to find out every possible reason before you start pointing fingers at others.
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