Teach, Teach, Bang, Bang

The past month has been truly horrible. After the incident in Montreal, there seems to be a rash of copycat school shootings across Canada and the United States. Most recently was the execution style murders of five girls at an Amish school house in rural Pennsylvania.
School shootings seem to be becoming a disturbing trend again. They pop up about every five to ten years or so. Fortuantely, the most serious crime on the campus I attend is highway robbery, but these events have got me thinking. Are we really safe in our places of education?

It seems our youth in general are becoming increasingly violent. I'm not quite exactly sure why this is, but it's likely bad parenting plays a role. Parents not loving their kids enough and turning a blind eye to what they're doing. Not teaching them good values, such as how to resolve disputes without resorting to violence. Some of these people though are just nuts though. Then there's the whole thing about the games and TV watch; if you've read this blog long enough, you know where I stand on that.

So, are schools safe? Well, that depends. Inner city schools typically suffer higher rates of crime than suburban ones. Still, schools for the most part are safe places and parents need not worry. The truth is, the number of shootings of that magnitude, where people are targeted randomly, is very small. Your child is probably more likely to get hit by lightning than they are getting killed in that manor.

Even so, is there any way to prevent these horrible acts from happening? Unfortunately no. If someone wants to do it bad enough, they're going to do it. Gun controls won't work as they'll just obtain them illegally. Police on campus might work but don't act as a deterrant. The killer will still try to do his deed. All we can do is pray these disturbed people seek help before they act on their fantasies.