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Hi Friends.
With the National Walk Out, and ongoing arguments about how we can somehow prevent school shootings by “being nice to the bullied kids,” let’s talk.
Let’s talk about Columbine.
With the National Walk Out, and ongoing arguments about how we can somehow prevent school shootings by “being nice to the bullied kids,” let’s talk.
Let’s talk about Columbine.
Unlike ALL of the current High School students in America today (yes, it’s been that long), I remember Columbine. I was 13, and just finishing 8th grade.
The media narrative that swirled around Columbine was intense—we’d not really had a mass shooting on that scale, and because it was a shooting accompanied by a failed bombing, a lot of people sought explanation that couched it in stereotypical HS cliches and cliques.
#walkupnotout asks students to take responsibility for the mental health of their classmates, suggesting that school shootings are *their fault* for not being "nicer." It's victim-blaming. Stop it.
It's baffling to me that people think that instead of making it harder for a troubled teenager with a history of violence to get his hands on an AR-15, we should just tell students to "be nice" and hope he doesn't shoot them. Good grief.
Of course I want to see students reach out to one another and be kind to one another! But offering a hug to a troubled student is not going to magically solve significant mental health challenges where clinical care is needed, nor will it protect against an AR-15...
