WTF is wrong with everyone?

[Keiichi]

I just watched an hour-long show on The Discovery Channel about school shootings. They actually went through drills and procedures that you should do in case a shooting happens in your school. I was getting flashbacks to those old "duck & cover" films about nuclear attacks. They had the kids flip over their desks and crouch behind them. The whole time, I was just thinking "WTF!? How is that supposed to stop a bullet? It's about half and inch of cheap, low-grade wood!".

Then they proceeded to go through the "warning signs" of what to look for in a school shooter. Basically, anyone who wears black clothes, a trench coat, has no friends, low grades, enjoys violent forms of entertainment (games and movies), and prefers to sit alone. The whole time I was waching that, I was saying to myself "Great! Now that they know what to look for, everyone will pick on those people even more! I guess that's not going to push them over the edge that much faster!" What really pisses me off is that I was exactly like that. I enjoy violent games and movies. I wore a trench coat. I had very few friends. I had low grades. I prefered to sit alone. Does that make me a potential shooter? Hell no!

Then I got to thinking "WTF is wrong with America that school shootings even happen? Why do we need school shooting precedures posted next to the tornado shelter and fire drill escape routes?" Take Japan for instance. They have just as many, if not more, violent games than we do, yet they don't run around gunning each other down in between classes. This not only leads me to believe that violent games aren't the cause of violence in society, but that something is just generaly wrong with America. If it's not games or movies or Rock & Roll, then what is it? What are your opinions on "the root of all evil"?

-Keiichi

http://www.geocities.com/morisato_81/

 

[Ballistophobia]

More than one thing for sure.

I think its the grandiose "popular" ppl who walk around like thier shit don't stink and fuck with all the ppl who they don't feel measure up. They are a big factor.
I also don't think its one thing for every school. It varys for the situation. Some ppl just wanna go to school and be nice and get things done,but there are some who just wanna make everyones day a living hell and after a while they snap.
I think that the Columbine kids where crazy to begin with. I mean,they shot kids that would have been the type to get picked on too. They shot girls that couldn't have done anything to them,well unless they turned them down,but generally girls are nice about most things.I feel they couldn't get any so thats why they shot girls.
Also,religious beliefs. They didn't believe in a or any god,as do I. They felt they have nothing to lose if when u die,it will trully all be over so I guess they said fuck it,lets leave our fucked up mark on this floating rock. Does that mean I'll do the same thing cuz I feel the same way about life? Fuck no. Its all about the individual person. Just becuz one person is a certain way,it doesn't mean that all or any of the ppl like them will lead the same life.
My 2 cents.

 

[Ignato]

Hey I just saw that.

I was watching America's Most Wanted and they had the exact same drills and procedures. They were showing kids flipping desks and calling it "bunkering". They were also showing kids playing dead and hiding in closets. The exact quote was "Take several short breaths if any at all." They also showed some tape of the shoot out at Columbine. Yes, this had me also wondering wtf were these people thinking.

They never showed any warning signs; however, I fit that description perfectly (except for the black clothes). I think they were showing all these drills/tips etc. is because of another shooting that occurred earlier this week I think.

There is no easy answer to the root of evil in America though. It has to do with many factors in my opinion. The media wishes to find a scapegoat and to pronounce that "We have found the cause!" All they produce is answers with half-assed evidence to support it. I am guessing that it has to do with the huge population of America and that not everyone can get the attention they need. Some people get left out and feel bitter towards the persons responsible for casting them out of the popularity circle. This results in bottled up anger exploding at their peers. Again, I have no clue just my opinion on the matter.

"In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity." -Albert Einstein

 

[Zundfolge]

Too bad they don't teach high school girls to fend off date rapes from football players, there's a hell of a lot more of them then there are school shootings.

Look, I don't want to sound paranoid, but it's all a plot by the left to demonize and outlaw all guns (so you must rely on big brother to protect you and you won't be able to protect yourself from big brother), plus get people used to being judged by the state as dangerous because they don't fit the profile of "Normal". This way you can weed out the free thinkers and drug/counsel them into submission.

This is how we create a generation of slaves.

 

[Christopher Webb]

Which left are you referring to? I think most members of the left to which I belong are torn between the desire to keep the control away from governments and the desire to prevent shootings etc.

But really, guns should only be accessable to those who are 18+. Kids should be taught from an early age that not only do they have rights, but that they also have responsibilities (like up-holding OTHER peoples right eg right to live)

Blaming games is an easy target for the media and those who don't to come to terms that the school system is fucked.

<insert cute/ interesting/ bizarre signature here>

 

[Snakeye]

I think that any type of violent behavior is something that is inside every human being. Everyone may one go out and kill someone, and IMO any approach to find out who it will be and when he will do it is futile.
If you look for people who watch violent movies, we'd have two thirds of the world population, if you reduce it to movies and games maby there'd be only one third left. In fact I think most members of this board would fit at least partly into such a pattern. Most here have an interest in weapons and use them in games on (simulated) humans.

Looking at myself I'd guess I might be some kind of suspected mass murderer - rather a loner, plays violent games, watches violent movies, reads books about military/combat etc.

But blameing it all on guns and violent 'entertainment' is much too easy. I think the main factor that kids get guns is the carelessness of adults.
I once saw a report about a little girl, who was shot by her 4 or 5 or 6 year old brother. The father blamed it on the gun, but if you ask me, it was his fault. Leaving a loaded(!) gun in his bedroom when his children play in the house is an act of stupidity and carelessness.(anybody who likes to know: the girl survived)

IMO a certain restriction of access to guns from the government is not all that wrong. Let's be true: who really needs a full auto AR? Wouldn't a semi-auto do it for hunting/shooting? Also gun owners should have some kind of 'education' on the right use and storage of guns.

My conclusion concerning this topic is:
Violence has always been part of mankind; I guess there is no way of eliminating it completely. Also any attempt to find out who is going to go berserk by simply saying: 'watch for loners in black chlothes, with bad grades etc' is true and utter bullshit.

Snakeye /infopop/emoticons/icon_biggrin.gif

PS: about the girls shooting. Girls can be as cruel as a boy - and counterterrorist teams usually have the orders to shoot women first. So don't bet that women are always friendly..

anything you do can get you killed, including doing nothing

 

[Zundfolge]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR> The father blamed it on the gun, but if you ask me, it was his fault. [/quote]
Can't agree with you more, he's a dumbass. I belive it's the moral responsibility of gun-owners to make sure their guns are safely stored. I dissagree that it's the government's place to come into our homes and make us store our guns the way they want.

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR> ...who really needs a full auto AR? Wouldn't a semi-auto do it for hunting/shooting? [/quote]
See, I have a problem with this logic. You don't need a car with more then 50hp, you don't need a stereo that puts out more then 50w, you don't need fast food, you don't need 200 chanels on TV. But it's not the governments place to outlaw things you don't need. Outlawing full auto and semi auto assault rifles is foolish. Here in the states, less then .1% of all semi-auto "assault rifles" are EVER used in a crime. Plus, the notion that the only reason to own a gun is for hunting/sport is also foolish. In an American context, part of the reason for the 2nd ammendment is to allow the people to arm themselves to protect themselves FROM then government.

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR> PS: about the girls shooting. Girls can be as cruel as a boy - and counterterrorist teams usually have the orders to shoot women first. So don't bet that women are always friendly [/quote]

I remember seeing a documentery on A&E or Discovery channel about all-girl street gangs in LA, apparently they're known for being much more cruel and violent then their male counterparts (maybe they feel the need to show how tough they are). This notion that if women ruled the world there would be less war is just silly, Women have just as much capacity for cruelty as men. (many of you guys here can attest to that)

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR> My conclusion concerning this topic is:
Violence has always been part of mankind; I guess there is no way of eliminating it completely. Also any attempt to find out who is going to go berserk by simply saying: 'watch for loners in black chlothes, with bad grades etc' is true and utter bullshit. [/quote]

Amen!

 

[Bladestorm]

my thoughts

well lets see, i wouldnt like to see gun ownership become legal here in the UK (other than in shooting clubs where its ok as long as its well run) but wont get into the american gun-ownership argument as its not my place, erm here a tv dosumenary company did a whole program on the columbine shooting, or rather the "links" between crime and video games, it was totally ridiculous , some of there claims were:

an ex-army lieutenantsaid the columbine kids hit with 7/10 shots whereas a U.S. marine hits with 1/10 shots (only a very poor marine surely ?) and they were so accurate because they played DOOM !!
> factors in the kids acuracy that i would assume more reasonable:
-point blank range
-stationary targets
-no return fire
-suicidal firers (not worrying about getting shot back)
>factors in a marines accuracy
--target range
-long range
-firing off a spread quickly
--combat
-return fire
-soldiers aim to stay alive
-longer range possibly
-moving targets

etc etc you get the picture anyway

kids who play GTA go out and steal cars (they showed some kids who stole cars and play gta...) er ive played gta and ive never even thought about stealing anything let alone a car...
>how i see it
-hundreds of thousands of kids have played gta, not many are car-thieves...
-kids arent even supposed to play it (as its an 18)
- arent kids who aralready car thieves more likely to seek out gta to play rather than the other way around ?
-and isnt car-stealing in a film far more accurate than GTA ?

also they showed an experiment where someone would play a non-violent game then have to punish the loser by holding there hand in ice for as long as they felt fitting, then the same but with a violent game - unsurprisingly they held the hand under for longer with the aggressive game - the program claimed this was making normal gentle people into vicious killers, er wouldnt the extra aggression be the same or even worse with contact sports ?

again its the media looking for scape-goats and an easy program, during the whole show there were only a couple of selective clips of people from the games industry and then they werent ever allowed to answer properly... afterwards the show said go to out website chatroom and ask the shows crew any questions, well all the questions were screened so about 70 - 80 % of the questions were ignored and only people saying "my kid is very hard to control and now hes playing GTA how can i stop him becoming a car-thief" etc

it could have counted as a comedy if it hadnt had like a quarter of the zaudience believing it...

 

[JonnyBoy]

you know there is this kid in my school named john thompson(shouldn have given out his name but ohwell) and he really has little friends, is dperessed, and sits alone. now, i usually avoid stereotypes but this kid hit the bullseye. last year he was telling some other friend of mine not to go to school because he was putting a bomb in it. well, he had the bomb, but i guess he chickened out and didn't set it off. whew. but youre right, this is gettin seriously fucked up now.

 

[MiscMan]

That sucks man, good thing he chickened out /infopop/emoticons/icon_wink.gif. But stuff like that rarely ever go out to the fullest, and i doubt that it is in any way connected to violent video games. I happen to have played many violent video games, and really like Close Combat. That game was awesome! I was far from violent. I could have probably fit the stereotype myself for a while. Well, luckily i grew out of that and got a life /infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif.

This brings me to a conclusion that outlines the general hypocricy of even attempting to ban video games. Generally American law is aiming at not convicting innocents, even while letting a few guilty go. The opposite happens when people try to prevent oh-so-common school shootings. Instead of assuming that most gun owners are normal, decent people, they assume ALL of them are fucking braindead hicks or homocidal murderers! Holy crap, I would rather stop my constant kill sprees and go kill them! Wait a sec, that would be a valid argument.

Grr, and the rampant misinformation and assumptions about gun violence is apalling! I was talking to my sister about it, and get this, she said that she thought most gun owners were irresponsible. WTF?? I don't think she has ever even met someone who had a gun!! Hell, i dont think she has met someone who has even HELD a gun!!! She's my own sister for god's sake!

----

-MiscMan

Quite frankly, I don't give a damn!

TACO

Titanium Wars

 

[Ballistophobia]

Not the same thing!!!

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Snakeye:
PS: about the girls shooting. Girls can be as cruel as a boy - and counterterrorist teams usually have the orders to shoot women first. So don't bet that women are always friendly..

[/quote]

Ok,I think this is a little out of context duder. I am talkin about young teenage girls getting gunned down in thier school for doing nothing wrong and your talkin about girls who are suspects of something in a situation that they caused themselves. Big difference.