Of all the school shootings, the one that just took place in Broward County scares me the most.
Here's why. Every school or sports program I have worked in has a kid like Nikolaus Cruz, a young man so angry and disturbed that even the toughest teacher or coach couldn't deal with him. In my days coaching baseball and basketball in Brooklyn, I took pride in taking boys and young men under my wing that no one else could handle, but there were occasionally kids who were too difficult even for me, and with great reluctance I had to throw them out of the program. In one instance, a young man I threw out came back with an ice pick and threatened to cut me up, but with help, I was able to handle that. But what if he came back with an automatic weapon. If he did, I and several other people would have been dead.
Basically, that's what happened in Broward, A disturbed young man who was thrown out of his high school returned with assault weapons and killed 17 students and teachers. And here's my point. There are tens of thousands of Nikolaus Cruz's all over this country. Give them easy access to assault weapons and they are a massacre waiting to happen.
This isn't a mental health problem--there is no therapy program that cure the rage inside every wounded, bitter young man. It isn't an education program- there are some kids even the best trained, most compassionate, street smart teachers can't reach.
It is an assault weapons problem. You put assault weapons in the hands of every adolescent loose cannon in small town and suburban America and you are setting yourself up for massacres of students and teachers.
No one in those communities wants to hear this.No program anyone has ever developed will defuse the rage in the Nikolaus Cruz's of the world. You want your children to feel safe? Take the assault weapons out of their hands
Thank you...
ReplyDeleteA fellow teacher who also tries to save them.
" Every school or sports program I have worked in has a kid like Nikolaus Cruz". My experience is the same as Dr. Naison: "no one wants to hear" or wrestle with the crisis (until it's too late). Think about that... More than 125,000 thousand schools (elementary through high school) in US... I would venture to say there are 3-4 children who's experience -- a combination of nature and nurture -- has put them on the same path as Nikolaus Cruz at every one of those schools. That is half a million kids no one wants to talk about, or that some want to believe will have a happy, fairy tale turnaround, and in the meantime we turn off the news and bury their heads in the sand. Meanwhile, those kids wake up every morning and come back to school...
ReplyDeleteThank You! So true. It's all about access.
ReplyDeleteWe also need to work on defusing the rage. And I don't mean by throwing pills at it. I think that's part of the problem too, and NO ONE is talking about that. Where's all the rage coming from? Why isn't there this level of rage in all countries? What's different here? Could it be the encouragement of hatred are seeing in the adults around them?
ReplyDeleteThe gun was a semi-automatic, not an automatic.
ReplyDeleteThis doesn't change the argument about rage. But when earnestly discussing the problem of school shootings, we should be accurate, so as to not muddy the debate.
As a current coach and teacher and a former school administrator, I understand fully what you are saying. Thank you for making a great point.
ReplyDeleteThey’re dead. Let’s be accurate. The murder weapon was a semi-automatic.
ReplyDeleteWe need stricter gun laws NOW. BAN assault weapons.
Semi-automatic ... semi with a bump stock ... full automatic. Doesn't matter. NONE of the above should be available to one and all. We should not need to hear this, it should be common sense. A resounding majority of Americans agree. So, now ... how do we make a ban happen?
ReplyDeleteI agree, however, we can't ignore the lack of proper screening and treatment of the increasingly complex mental health aspects of this problem, the marginaliization of many in our society, and the unwillingness of institutions to act on information and tips they receive on specific individuals. This is a multi-faceted problem and solutions should reflect more than a simple fix. Getting gun policy right is but a part of the solution.
ReplyDeleteThank you Kathy W.
ReplyDeleteThere will always be troubled kids in schools, not enough counselors, children with rage. The access to weapons, especially those designed for soldiers in wars, is the preventable piece. NO ONE SHOULD BE ABLE TO BUY
ReplyDeleteAUTOMATIC WEAPONS FOR ANYTHING!!!
Yes. Well said. You are right, they don't want to hear this. Too much money to be made at the cost of lives. I hope the kids keep talking and run for office!
ReplyDelete