Would-be school shooting in California

Anonus

This happened today.

I don't have much to say about the incident itself, but I feel that serious action should be taken on bullying. It feels as if adults are too often apathetic to it and that's wrong. Young people should feel like someone is looking out for them...

In the event that gun control comes up: keep it civil.

Salix Babylonika

ugh.

I've said this before, but I don't even know what to say about this kind of thing.

Viani

So he attempted to shoot the bully, and only the bully?

Salix Babylonika

Viani said:

So he attempted to shoot the bully, and only the bully?

I think the bully is the only person he actually hit, but he tried to shoot others.

Details are always vague in situations like this.

Sredni Vashtar

He actually shot one of the two people that he intended to kill, both of whom had apparently bullied him. One person suffered hearing loss from the shot, another fell over a table when they were evacuated, and the teacher himself got winged by a stray pellet. It's all in the article.

I'm not sure what to actually say here.

Viani

Is he going to prison or whatever?

Sredni Vashtar

I guess that would depend on whether or not he's mentally stable enough in the eyes of the court.

Viani

This one girl I work with pretends to be insane, and she's stabbed her boyfriend twice and has never went to prison over it, and yet they are still together (mostly because she threatens to kill herself/him if they ever break up).

I wonder what law or whatever it was that says that insane people are to be given different punishments.

Sredni Vashtar

Well, if you really aren't in a normal headspace and don't understand what you're doing, the law takes that into account and has you remanded to psychological treatment. It's really difficult to win an insanity plea, though.

As for this girl you're describing: Why isn't she in an institution? Unless he dropped the charges or she was acquitted entirely, trying to knife your significant other isn't something that the law takes lightly, crazy or no.

Viani

I got sent to Warm Springs for just a suicide attempt, and I still wonder to this day while she's still walking around town with her man like nothing happened. I think it's because she's related to some people who work at the courthouse.

Sredni Vashtar

That's pretty awful.

Bunny

That's...

...that's fucked up.

Corporal Forsythe

A large part of the reason that bullying happens in schools is because most of the faculty at a high school have never left high school themselves. They pander to and encourage this sort of thing and that's why it continues. 

Unknown

The user and all related content has been deleted.

Salix Babylonika

edit: well that didn't work.

Jumpingzombie

This is  weird case. I don't at all think it was good the kid brought a gun to school and used that extreme kind of violence to solve his problems. However, this incident seems a bit different from some of the other shootings that have happened in the last few months. And this one is the perfect proof that the school system is shit when it comes to bullying.

Obā-san

kids are terrible

Salix Babylonika

Corporal Forsythe said:

A large part of the reason that bullying happens in schools is because most of the faculty at a high school have never left high school themselves. They pander to and encourage this sort of thing and that's why it continues. 

I know the Corporal and I don't agree on a lot of things, but this is absolutely true.

Especially with the teachers that try to be quote-unquote "the cool one".

Obā-san

I think it really depends on the teachers you've had.

My teachers would never ever put up with that kinda shit.

But maybe that's because I've taken all honors courses?

Salix Babylonika

It does depend on the teacher.

A lot of teachers I had though, pretty overtly sought approval from the (and I really apologize for using this term but I can think of no better way to put it) "cool kids" in a given class. My biology teacher was especially bad about this.

Hexartes

I think the problem is that a lot of the teachers assume that all students are equally responsible.

Tachyon

Well, if they assume that, they're idiots.

This is a weird case, but i really don't think the school's stance on bullying can be held accountable.  i mean, i don't know how badly this kid was bullied, but no normal kid thinks the appropriate response to bullying is to murder somebody.

Salix Babylonika

a8 said:

Well, if they assume that, they're idiots.

This is a weird case, but i really don't think the school's stance on bullying can be held accountable.  i mean, i don't know how badly this kid was bullied, but no normal kid thinks the appropriate response to bullying is to murder somebody.

Really? You'd be shocked. 

I was never the type to get violent, but when I was in middle school I certainly often wished I could kill the people bullying me. I regret wishing it in retrospect, but I was also a jackass in middle school. Some people never really move beyond that, and unfortunately, violence can ensue.

I'm not saying the kid's blameless--he's not in any way, this was completely his decision--I'm just saying he's not necessarily "crazy" either.

Tachyon

Maybe not, i guess.

i know that school bullying can turn violent; hell, i lashed out at bullies on occasion.  i'm just really having trouble envisioning any situation, outside i guess really extreme scenarios, in which 'murder them' could seem like in any way a reasonable response to bullying.  It just, i don't know.  i'm really not trying to be a dick here but to me that sounds unhinged.

On reflection, scratch all that.  i know perfectly well bullying can make a person desperate, and i'm being unempathic and a hypocrite.  It's naïve to suggest that nobody could come to the conclusion that murder was the way out.

Viani

The thing that just crossed my mind is that, in failing to kill his bully, he unfortunately only gave more ammunition to his bully to use against him. Not only will that bullies' family support their child's future treatment of his potential murderer, but the thought that their child is the reason the kid thought his only escape was murder will never cross their minds. One thing people hate to admit is that their children are the problem, and prefer to blame other people's children.

Either this kid was very very neurotic and unbalanced and easy to provoke, or this bully was disgustingly inhumane in his actions against him.