I've got 20+ years in public education. I've now been a high school counselor at a continuation school (alt ed is another name) for the last 8yrs. My take? Kids are no longer kids. Parents have aborted their responsibilties due to alcohol/drugs/poor choices in spouses etc. Kids go home to a broken, turbulent environment where no one cares and they are forced to grow up fast just to protect/provide for themselves. In this environment, there is no teaching of how to deal with stress/issues/choices etc. Its fight or flight and for many, they have no where to go, so its stay home and fight. In this chaos, they seek some way to "control" their environment in some fashion and that comes from heavy use of substances/alcohol/sex/violence. Now fast forward and you have a 20 something aged adult with no coping skills who gets layed off, foreclosed on, evicted, significant other leaves etc and they "go off". In this case, they go to where they have a chance for "ultimate" control with minimum chance of retaliation, that is, shooting up a school yard.
We also have a society where we believe everything needs to be "fair". No longer are sports teams for those that can make the "cut". You can't believe the number of parents we deal with who can't handle the issue that their kid is not skilled enough to make the team or get the "A" grade etc. The excuses are unbelieveable! Now take that same kid who has been taught since grade school that he is the "norm" and put him in the competitive workplace where performance counts and he looses. What does he do, he resorts to violence where he has control.
To lay blame, I believe liberalism is the true culprit. If you look at society over the last 40 yrs, our "free love/no commitment/you're not accountable for your actions" society has populated the earth with broken homes and single mothers trying to get by in a bad situation and the collateral damage is the children who grow up "damaged" due to the circumstances. A broad brushstroke I realize, and certainly there are many who have overcome these circumstances and have become contributing, productive members of society.
In the meantime, get your concealed carry permit as I'm doing (yes, I know I can't have it at or near school) and be prepared to protect yourself and your loved ones. "Mayberry", for those that remember, simply no longer exists.....
