Trooper

Kids and fighting. In my day of high school, which was 6 years ago school fights happened maybe twice a month. But no one was ever shot either in those days. Schools have cracked down on school fights and basically made it an arrestable offence.

My thought was, well not my thought but I'm taking it. If schools would be a little less afraid of students fighting and maybe a little more forgiving. Do you think school violence would go back to the good old days?

discuss.

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that sounds like a good idea trooper.
-Vulcan

Ferris Bueller

It's going to sound strange, but we shouldnt even cover school shootings in the media. Yes, theyre tragic incidents and the loss of life is always regrettable, but to someone who is already over the edge enough to be planning a school shooting, this much media coverage and hype could add a hero complex to the situation. Not to mention they make TV movies out of these tragedies. Sick and sad.

Imagine for a second, a troubled teenager who is planning, even in the early stages, a school shooting. He sees on the news that someone somewhere just took that plan to fruition. The news media rambles on and on and on about it, giving the kid ideas, telling him how not to get caught by exposing the mistakes of the previous gunman. Then they decide to make a TV movie out of it and the kid thinks to himself "hell, if I do this, i'll be famous too!"

Of course, for "normal" people, these kinds of things wouldnt be seen this way. We see the news reports and think "tragedy". People who would perform these actions see the news and think "strategy".

When I was in high school 7 years ago, fights were fairly commonplace. They rarely took place AT school, but outside of school the kids were duking it out left and right. Nobody ever brought guns, knives, bats, chains or anything else. It was hand to hand. People were always there to break it up if it went too far. I wish it was still that way everywhere, but I cant delude myself by thinking that school shootings have been limited to my era. If we look back, school shootings were around LONG before the Columbine incident, we just never put them in the media spotlight as we do now.

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|TG-6th|Ferris Bueller

Keres

I don't think there's a way for us to go back to the good old days. There is a reason those good old days aren't around anymore, and I prefer the present. However, I think that schools should crack down more, not be anymore lenient than they already are. Prior to this year, the disciplinary code required you made it all the way to rule 12 before you were kicked out of school, and getting to rule 12 wasn't an easy feat. You either had to do one EXTREMELY terrible thing or a ton of little ones. Starting this school year, the county has started calling the police for every fight that occurs at school and the students are being charged with assault. Quite frankly, I think buckling down and actually disciplining kids will fix the fighting problems.

The larger scale things: well that's a larger, more complicated issue with no easy solution.

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Zephyr: Besides Wyzcrak and his godly voice; the kind of voice that you will expect to say "Zephyr, I need you to build an ark at Marine Start, with room for two of every structure so that I may turret spam for 40 days and 40 nights" that is.

Squeak:Sometimes I'm awed by zibs genius. Then I remember he's Canadian and I feel significantly less threatened.

Ferris Bueller

When I was in high school, we already had this in place and it didnt stop anything. We had 2 Tampa Police Dept officers on grounds from 5 AM to 5 PM every day school was in session and anyone caught fighting was automatically suspended for 10 days, arrested and taken to the Tampa Juvenile Assessment Center (it's central booking for minors) and charged with assault.

Didnt stop the fights. Kids just took it off campus more often, but it still happened, and I went to one of the richest public schools in the country (ask anyone from tampa how ritzy H.B. Plant High is).

Minor discipline doesnt help and neither does ostracism by expulsion. The only time I ever fought in school was to defend myself against the kids who thought it'd be fun to shove around the short kid. Most fights are not for such reasons. Not to say I was justified in fighting, but better than getting my face pounded into the floor and letting it happen. The kids need counseling and lots of parental control.

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|TG-6th|Ferris Bueller

Atomic Dog

I grew up in a suburb of Los Angeles until the age of 15 when I moved to smalltown Michigan. In my *middle school* we rehearsed drive-by shooting drills during our phys ed class. Kids were knifed, beaten, bashed, and even occasionally shot at. But it didn't stop there...teachers were often the victims of some severe assault as well. We had security guards on site who drove around on golf carts. Mind you this was prior to high school.

When I started High School in smalltown Michigan I was in serious culture shock. A bunch of white kids who apparently liked to "hug" and call it a fight. It was really strange to me at the time. I'd come from a near war-zone to something completely different. All the same, it was a relief to me at the time. Looking back, getting out of the hood changed, and more than likely saved, my life. I've got a lot of old childhood friends who were never so lucky.

So...when I think about your meaning of the "good old days." I'd have to ask...when were those days? I'm going on 30 this month. Back in my "good old day" we had school shootings but nobody cared. It was just a bunch of poor non-caucasion kids shooting each other up for God knows what reason. I've still never figured it out. In *my* good old days schools had a good reason to fear fights...they more than likely ended in blood shed and could become extremely dangerous situations.

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TheFeniX

As it should be. It's assault and disruptive of school activities. Try getting "jumped" by 8 guys with another 15 watching and see how you feel on the issue. The funny part is, I came out without a scratch on me while the instigator of the whole deal was knocked unconscious by one of his own friends who was trying to hit me.

Nostalgia can be a great thing. It can also make you gloss over some really crappy stuff that happened.

"Back in the day" we didn't have family rapists, we just called him "weird Uncle Roy." People were good keeping the lid closed on the trash-can. It's just now day it's easy for the can to spill over.

Further, aren't most school shooting performed by kids who were unlikely to fight back with their fists in the first place?

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Chewy

I'm sorry, but...

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