Another College Shooting. Why the rise in college shooting and what to do to stop this? Your thoughts?

SCPO David Lockwood — Fri, 09 Oct 2015 09:11:40 -0400

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/officials-1-dead-3-wounded-in-university-shooting-in-ariz/ar-AAfhelw?li=AAa0dzB

Officials: 1 dead, 3 wounded in university shooting in Ariz.

A shooting outside an Arizona university dormitory early Friday left one person dead, three others wounded and the suspected shooter in custody, a school official said.

Response by MSgt Private RallyPoint Member made Oct 9 at 2015 9:12 AM

MSgt Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 09 Oct 2015 09:12:49 -0400

Easy targets.....arm the populace.

Response by SSG Warren Swan made Oct 9 at 2015 9:18 AM

SSG Warren Swan — Fri, 09 Oct 2015 09:18:32 -0400

There is no solution honestly. Want to arm the students? Not so hot an idea with some of their young and untrained minds. Arm the faculty? Another tricky situation depending on the person. I won't even get into the alcohol and drug consumption in college. Put more cameras up, but that's not going to be a deterrent being it's passive not active. Hire more campus police. Now that might be something that works, but to some students who just won't get "it", it's an infringement on them personally, and could cost the school a program or two.
Hire more cops, drop the chess, math, and male synronized swimming teams. Save lives.

Response by Sgt Aaron Kennedy, MS made Oct 9 at 2015 9:33 AM

Sgt Aaron Kennedy, MS — Fri, 09 Oct 2015 09:33:26 -0400

I have a "theory" but it will sound cold and heartless, much like a smattering of my posts.

1) Demographic. "Although less data exist for non‐affective psychosis, available evidence suggests that median AOO is in the range late teens through early 20s. Roughly half of all lifetime mental disorders in most studies start by the mid‐teens and three‐fourths by the mid‐20s."
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1925038/

College students are the right "age category" 18-22 is the PRIME age group with 16-24 being the the whole group.

2) Brain Development. Human brain isn't fully formed until about 25. It's still growing. We treat people like adults in the 16, 18, 21 increments however, with lots more freedom and LOTS more stressors.
http://hrweb.mit.edu/worklife/youngadult/brain.html

3) Medications & Pharmaceuticals. This is a causation/correlation issue, and I'm not implying linkage, but it fits the theory when you add 1) & 2). Requires research.
http://ssristories.org/

Response by CSM Michael J. Uhlig made Oct 9 at 2015 9:37 AM

CSM Michael J. Uhlig — Fri, 09 Oct 2015 09:37:34 -0400

The problem (again my thoughts) is the deterioration of the family.....sitting down together to have a family dinner (without texting), talking to one another - I know its a foreign concept, but looking at someone eyeball to eyeball instead of emgicon to emogicon.....the detachment from reality in what we call todays family circle will see an even greater increase in this sort of isolated pockets of violence with the family and neighbors all saying "he was a good boy...." well, good boy hell, he had no direction and it starts with the breakdown at the family!

Response by SPC Bruce Nichols made Oct 9 at 2015 9:51 AM

SPC Bruce Nichols — Fri, 09 Oct 2015 09:51:40 -0400

I feel like they're isolated incidents for the most part, but due to the vast media coverage of the shooters, it causes the copycat effect. These unstable lunatics with weapons feel like that is their claim to fame. Failing to realize they're are going to meet their inevitable demise.

Response by SPC Bruce Nichols made Oct 9 at 2015 9:55 AM

SPC Bruce Nichols — Fri, 09 Oct 2015 09:55:12 -0400

Response by PO3 Steven Sherrill made Oct 9 at 2015 10:06 AM

PO3 Steven Sherrill — Fri, 09 Oct 2015 10:06:31 -0400

SCPO David Lockwood I was thinking about that this morning. I think the biggest part of the problem is the cultural shift to ME, MY, MINE, I. What I mean by that is that these young people are so self absorbed that if it is not about them, they don't care. How can you expect a person with that type of mentality to respect the lives of others? The short answer is you can't. When all one cares about is oneself, then others are merely obstacles to be moved, nuisances to be ignored, or (as in the case with these asshats) threats to be eliminated. Unless the younger generation pulls themselves out of the self gratifying world that they feel revolves around them, things are not going to change.

Additionally, there is not personal accountability anymore. When I was growing up, if I got bad grades, my parents didn't blame the school or the teachers. They told me that it was my responsibility. Now, when a kid fails, it is the system's fault. When I was a kid playing sports, the best players played, the worst players were put in for the minimum required time. If you wanted to play, practice. Now, everyone plays, score doesn't matter, and everyone gets a trophy just for showing up. They are not taught to appreciate success and hard work as children. Unfortunately for them, life doesn't give a shit if you show up. Life cares about results. If you can't produce, you will be replaced with someone who will produce. When these kids go from their safe environment of participation is all that matters to the results driven world of adulthood, they do not have the skills to cope. Some turn to drugs. Some turn to sex. Some rise to the occasion and overcome. Some turn to violence.

We are also partially responsible for this. Politicians turn the violence into a gun control issue rather than addressing the difficult task of fixing the root problem. We line up and get behind the politicians that support our stance whether we are for or against gun control. We the people get caught up in addressing the means of the behavior that the behavior itself falls by the wayside. I personally am very much against limiting firearms ownership. That being said, I can argue until I am blue in the face about the dangers of putting stipulations on our Constitutional Freedom, and I am not going to convince a person who is pro gun control that I am right. A pro gun control person can argue until they are blue in the face about the harm that has been done by gun wielding people, and they are not going to convince me that they are right. In the meantime the cause of the violence is ignored while we focus on the instrument of the violence.

I would suggest this as a means to stop school violence. First off, stop telling kids that showing up is all that matters. Teach them from a young age that results matter. I am not saying to take all the fun out of being a kid, but teach them that to succeed, they need to excel. Second, don't give the shooters any press. When a person wants attention, feels they are not getting the attention they deserve, and act out as a result; they are going to do so in a way that gets them that attention. IF every time a school shooting happens it is plastered all over the media, it encourages that type of behavior. Don't do it. Third, address the behavior not the instrument. Instead of discussing the shooting as if it exists in a bubble, try to find the trigger event that resulted in the shooting. Treat mental health as an integral part of humanity. In school, kids are required to take physical education courses. Why not add Mental Health activities. While it seems counter to what I have said, we also need to teach these kids how to relax during their down time. For example, my daughter is ranked 25 in a class of 501. She has a 3.7 GPA. She plays varsity girls football and volleyball. She is a member of the choir as well. She is worried that she is not going to be able to get into the college she wants to go to. She is not looking at some Ivy League School. She is worried that with her GPA, SAT, and Extra Curricular activities that she will not be able to get accepted to University of Florida a state school. It is like a rubber band. A rubber band is made to expand and contract. If a rubber band is stretched, and left stretched, it loses its ability to contract. When it stretches too far, it snaps. When it is stretched for too long, it snaps. People are the same way. When "stretched" too far, they snap. When stretched for too long, they lose the ability to recover. When being stretched without release, eventually they snap. We need to help each other as human beings to release that tension so that it is released in a healthy manner. The problem is, I don't know how we are going to get there. I know that ultimately the first step is giving a shit about somebody other than oneself. RP is full of people who have already done that. People who have served this nation. Society needs to step up. Step up and care about our fellow man.

Rant is now over.

Response by PO3 Private RallyPoint Member made Oct 9 at 2015 10:08 AM

PO3 Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 09 Oct 2015 10:08:22 -0400

Just allow people to defend themselves ... it is as simple as common sense as possible. How and what to defend with? that is in a grey area. For me? guns would be alright.