I am not really sure where else to put this or what to think of it. Since COVID I have had a ton of friends attempt to hurt themselves and a couple that succeeded. Some sent to a mental hospital. I keep hearing that the strain of the COVID isolation has ruined an entire generation of teen girls and that anxiety and depression in us is exploding.
Today there was news that a teen boy shot and killed 17 children and several adults in Texas. A primary school so that means children close in age to my younger sister. It kind of is breaking me down just thinking of it. Last week there was a shooting at a grocery store where 14 people were shot. That was another teen and he supposedly did that because they weren't white. Being mixed race myself that one got me too. I made a terrible mistake and watched the video of it the boy had live streamed and I am just torn apart.
Today's though I can't process. Little kids. Not adults or even teens in my age range but younger grade schoolers. Both by boys only a bit older than me and the age of a lot of my friends and all. I feel terrible for it. Worse for the idea that adults my parents age keep talking about "Losing an entire batch of teens" like we came out of the oven burnt and needed to go in the trash or just written off.
I'm not really sure where I am going with that other than to say that it seems so dark and I worry for kids younger than me. It's shocking to see it going in this direction but.....ugh....fuck it...ok.....they constantly have news about laws to protect kids from this or that and trafficking and drugs but holy crap a lot of us are unhinged from getting dumped on constantly and nobody listening. Now the news is full of people arguing already over gun control laws but nobody saying hey you know maybe we could listen to some of the teens that are so far gone they think they need to kill everyone around them. Mandatory grief counseling. Yikes. More stress.
Maybe just actually try caring? Offering to let us talk to people about stuff without calling police and social workers or whatever? Offer actual help and not just cause us a ton more problems and stress with insane laws or weird restrictions? Shocking thought.
Sorry. I am done ranting for the night.
It's sad to say but there will always be evil. I honestly don't know the answer. I'm not sure what change could prevent something like this. I just don't get how an adult, he's 18 so still not that adult of an adult, would go into a primary school to kill little kids. I'm not justifying other shootings by any means but you can likely see the thought process when a teen goes to their own school. But some other school to target kids he likely doesn't know. I just don't get it.
I just feel sorry for all the death.
All the government wants to talk about is gun laws. Well, the gun didn't make the decision to go kill people. It was the person holding the gun that killed people. The gun was just the tool he used. What if he had a knife and went into the school and started stabbing people. They going to ban all knifes? The problem is the criminals that keep doing violent crimes, they keep letting them out of prison. Or no one keeps tabs on people with mental problems. Both of the last two shooters posted on social media signs that they were going to do something bad. No one said a word! I have been to prison, there are people there with long sentences that don't need to be there. There are people there with short sentences that absolutely needs to be there and never let out. We need to get the people in the current White House out as soon as possible and get someone in there that can make this country back the way it use to be! When I went to school the most you had to worry about was a fist fight. This country is going to shit!!!!!
Quote from: Robotboy on 25 May, 2022, 02:30:37
It's sad to say but there will always be evil. I honestly don't know the answer. I'm not sure what change could prevent something like this. I just don't get how an adult, he's 18 so still not that adult of an adult, would go into a primary school to kill little kids. I'm not justifying other shootings by any means but you can likely see the thought process when a teen goes to their own school. But some other school to target kids he likely doesn't know. I just don't get it.
I just feel sorry for all the death.
It takes a person with a real broken mind to randomly shoot 6 year olds, a person with a true hatred for life itself. Adam Lanza did the exact same thing, and anyone who has read Adam Lanza's writings would know what I'm talking about. When I first read his forum posts, the first thing I thought was something like "man, if sandy hook is a false flag like those crazy conspiracy theorists say, they sure picked the best guy to frame this on". Not that I ever considered the chance of it being a false flag, but you know what I mean.
Quote from: Robotboy on 25 May, 2022, 02:30:37
I'm not justifying other shootings by any means but you can likely see the thought process when a teen goes to their own school. But some other school to target kids he likely doesn't know. I just don't get it.
This is the thing to me too. He decided he wanted to go out of his way to go to a school that had the tinies at it. It was a primary school that went up to 5th grade so he wouldn't have been there for like years and years and years. But that is what he decided to do to hurt others.
This is a more specific type of crime common to the US, not that it does not happen anywhere else it does, but not to the level it happens up there. So one can only guess it has some cultural basis or accentuating factor.
Every society has it's tragedies, but looking into it and dealing with its causes and roots is the only way to move forward, sadly it appears that some type of apathy or maybe even some sadistic enjoyment of such things have become the norm; "it happens", "it's unavoidable", "so what? something else bad happened somewhere else too".
My nation is plagued by social violence and people treat it as if it was some type of macabre reality show or something that it is normal, this prevent people from taking action against the problems origin.
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Teens are unstable, the hormonal side of things alone make it quite the chaotic period, but when you consider it is the period where a greater social awakening happens and people are usually shit to one another you can start to see how life can be awful to teens, I would not attribute their troubles to the pandemic alone but it sure made things worse.
______________
There is a reason social workers exist, people are sadistic and evil and underage people are quite vulnerable and abuse of one way or another is very common be it from the adults in charge or from society at large.
I'm sure that if my school had an psychologist or at least a counselor to help me it would have prevented a lot of self harm. Shit if the teachers cared at least a lil bit it would already have being a lot better.
I agree with and feel for you DOJ. It is frustrating, depressing, and there is a feeling of helplessness. The click-bait, if-it-bleeds-it-leads media does not help things.
There are child-rights advocacy groups out there and I actually participate in some of them. But, it is an uphill battle. Young people have a hard time making an impact. They have no vote, no money, no rights. And, even if you are intelligent and well spoken like yourself, you are dismissed as "just a kid", and "wait till you get into the real world". Hellooo! Young people are in the real world. It is us grissled, cynical, inflexible, frightened ol' fogies that are living in a dream of our own creation.
I wish there were something I could do to make it easier for you. Unfortunately, the impacts we make are often small. Still, small steps are still steps (queue Bill Murray, "baby steps... baby steps....").
I was quite concerned about he impact of the pandemic and the social isolation when it began. We even chatted about it here. I am sad to see my fear realized. Humans are highly social. And when one is young, everything is magnified. The lack of real human connection is devastating in the best of times. But, not being able to hang out with friends in school is crushing.
However, I do have hope. And it lies with people like you. As you move through life, remember what it was like. It seems like so many people forget what it is like to be young, to be treated like a non-person. Our best bet is to end that mentality with ourselves and others will follow. But, it will take time.
When things like this happen, the discussions can very easily derail into a political conversation. I'll try not to do that in my response. First because I am not sure I want to talk politics on this forum at all. And second because I most definitely not want to derail this thread, where you (DoJ) have so clearly chosen a very different approach.
It is terrible when things like this happen. And the sad truth is, terrible things happen all the time The way China treats the Uyghur population. The Ukrain population attacked by Russia .... but also families of Russian soldiers who have to mourn the loss of their beloved who was ordered to fight an unjust war. And, indeed, now another school shooting in Texas. Way too much human tragedy. And of course, those tragedies that feel closer to oneself have a ;larger impact. Since I live in Europe, the fate of the Ukrainian touches me more than that of the Uyghurs.
But is it true that things are getting worse? I don't know. I feel like I'm approaching old-fart territory (in my 50s). And I have seen the same over and over. When I was young we felt like the world was the worst ever and adults should listen to us. And then ten years later the children that were in school then said those same words. And again, over and over.
When I was young, my generation knew the adults had fucked up the world. And we knew we would do a much better job.
Well, look around you. We failed. Miserably. My generation did not improve anything, and arguably made things worse.
And so did wave after wave of hopeful adolescents after us.
I understand that at times it feels terrible. But I like to keep the glass half full perspective. Drops, you and the young adults your age, as well as the children the age of your sister, and all in between, you are all still unspoiled. You have the same high hopes that we had, and you still have to opportunity to not fuck it up. To actually make that change that generations before you wanted to make but never did.
And yes. Indeed. That starts with something as "simple" (yet also as hard) as just caring.
Keep up the good job!
There is a debate rearing its ugly head that I will attempt my best not to touch with a ten foot pole. I'll just let the defenders of both camps assume that I'm on theirs.
This event is unimaginably tragic. I don't know how anyone could ever be brought to such a state of mind that would lead them to do something like this. But I know we, as a society, are very vulnerable to it. It's ironic in a way, because we project that vulnerability on children. Really, I'm sure most children are about as vulnerable as the average adult when faced with a mad man with a rifle. But they are our children, and that affects us all so much more deeply.
It's in times like these that grief will be at its highest, but also horrible specters such as unquenchable rage, fear, control, security – all things that once in place, History has shown, have a hard time budging. I fear that this event is going to make life harder for children and adults alike, and set us back yet another step in the pursue of freedom and happiness. It's the famous "but think of the children" argument, and no wonder it is so effective.
I have seen it already. I saw someone on social media – perhaps a troll, but seemingly genuine – justifiably appalled by the events of yesterday, suggesting that we implement a system that outright resembled the premise of the movie Minority Report. They didn't name the movie, nor showed any sign of knowing the idea was not original, and in fact almost universally considered to be a bad idea. It is hard to argue for more freedom when events like this happen. Imagine even mentioning the word "pedophile" in this context. And children will be more and more controlled, and less and less able to grow.
In a way, the crime committed yesterday is already one of the worst imaginable on the surface, and still its ramifications are even darker, murkier, and more terrifying. It is like a cough devolving into pneumonia.
I don't know what to say to you Drops, other than I want to stand with you and insist we listen to the ones who are the most affected, yet granted the less power to make decisions. We can all come up on our own with Minority Report and GPS implants on children. But how we actually make progress is together.
Very well said Midamoto. I agree with everything you said 100%
People can't help but talk about guns after these goddamn spree killings because that's the only thing separating the US from the rest of the "civilized" world. Just mountains of guns everywhere and millions of douche-nozzles who can only get their tiny dicks hard if they have a gun. Of course people are going to focus on guns. The machines specifically designed to kill. Good luck stabbing 17 children to death.
I can stop a person from killing someone with a knife. It's not point weapon, victim instantly dies. You have to get up in their personal space to murder with a knife. The assailant can basically only harm a person within arm's reach, so don't no one give me any of this shit about knives or bombs or whatever the fuck. That's a red herring.
Besides, if recent history shows us anything, it is that the weapon of choice for spree killers in countries without piles of guns on every corner is the automobile. You see it in Europe when some terrorist fuck tries to kill people because of whatever, they hop in a van and run a couple people over, then get shot by the police. It's crude, inefficient and barely ever happens compared to 'mur-cah where mass shootings are an almost daily occurrence.
But whatever, I know goddamn well we ain't gonna do shit about it. The gun nuts have the run of the place as proven by Sandy Hook. When basically nothing happened after that, I personally gave up. I quit caring about these pussies and their boomsticks. I've made peace with the fact that someday there's a slim chance some psycho is going to shoot me over nothing because "free-dumb" or whatever.
I get riled by this shit sometimes because there's billions of other people on the planet who don't have this problem, so clearly the solution already exists, but we don't even try because generations have been brainwashed by gun industry propaganda that "it wouldn't work here". Bullshit. You think they don't have deranged fucks in Europe and Japan and Australia and Canada? Of course they do. They have violent movies, they have violent video games, they have all the same social media bullshit; everything is the same except two things: gun laws and public health care.
Quote from: DropsOfJupiter on 25 May, 2022, 01:57:47
I am not really sure where else to put this or what to think of it. Since COVID I have had a ton of friends attempt to hurt themselves and a couple that succeeded. Some sent to a mental hospital. I keep hearing that the strain of the COVID isolation has ruined an entire generation of teen girls and that anxiety and depression in us is exploding.
Today there was news that a teen boy shot and killed 17 children and several adults in Texas. A primary school so that means children close in age to my younger sister. It kind of is breaking me down just thinking of it. Last week there was a shooting at a grocery store where 14 people were shot. That was another teen and he supposedly did that because they weren't white. Being mixed race myself that one got me too. I made a terrible mistake and watched the video of it the boy had live streamed and I am just torn apart.
Today's though I can't process. Little kids. Not adults or even teens in my age range but younger grade schoolers. Both by boys only a bit older than me and the age of a lot of my friends and all. I feel terrible for it. Worse for the idea that adults my parents age keep talking about "Losing an entire batch of teens" like we came out of the oven burnt and needed to go in the trash or just written off.
I'm not really sure where I am going with that other than to say that it seems so dark and I worry for kids younger than me. It's shocking to see it going in this direction but.....ugh....fuck it...ok.....they constantly have news about laws to protect kids from this or that and trafficking and drugs but holy crap a lot of us are unhinged from getting dumped on constantly and nobody listening. Now the news is full of people arguing already over gun control laws but nobody saying hey you know maybe we could listen to some of the teens that are so far gone they think they need to kill everyone around them. Mandatory grief counseling. Yikes. More stress.
Maybe just actually try caring? Offering to let us talk to people about stuff without calling police and social workers or whatever? Offer actual help and not just cause us a ton more problems and stress with insane laws or weird restrictions? Shocking thought.
Sorry. I am done ranting for the night.
Unfortunately we are living through the sort of "interesting times" the Chinese proverb warns about. As far as the events in Texas are concerned, it's something that has been eating away at me recently. The unfortunate reality is that no one with the power to stop these things from happening is going to stop these things from happening any time soon. Whether the solution involves gun control, broader access to mental health services, something else or some combination of all of them, I have no trust whatsoever that the people in charge are going to take the steps needed to solve the problem. I am not a parent, but if I was, I would do everything in my power to take my kids out of the public school system.
As far as what is happening to people your age, my heart breaks for you. But like with the aforementioned mass shooting problem, and even the other problem that this board exists to help solve, I think the only way we're going to get help is to do it ourselves. What that means for you is to be there for your friends in whatever way you can. I don't think most schools are shut down anymore, but if you aren't get enough face to face contact, try keeping the pack together through zoom or discord. Talk with each other. The worst thing you can be in difficult times is isolated. When I was your age, just being there with my friends and hanging out and doing nothing in particular helped me ease the pain of adolescence so, so much. Granted, we weren't living through the weirdest event in recent history, so I imagine it's harder for your generation. But my heart aches for you and I do hope things get better soon.
Another terrible thing is this will force schools to become even more prison-like than they already are with checkpoints and armed guards (Oh I mean "resource officers" yeah that does sound better, Orwell).
If I were to put on my tinfoil hat, the same people who don't want to help this school shooting problem are also the same ones who, deep down, don't like public education in the first place. They want children indoctrinated at parochial schools that they control, not educated at schools everyone has a right to go to. So the shittier and more unsafe public schools are, the better hand they hold to divert government resources to religion via "school choice". All part of the business model of maintaining a permanent underclass they can exploit for cheap labor and scapegoat when things get hairy. :P
it feels like the whole world is going downhill, and there's nothing we can do :(
Quote from: cplover15m on 03 June, 2022, 16:28:29
it feels like the whole world is going downhill, and there's nothing we can do :(
I feel the same way. the sad part is when I voice concerns I get labeled as some weird conspiracy theorist.
Quote from: DropsOfJupiter on 25 May, 2022, 01:57:47
I am not really sure where else to put this or what to think of it. Since COVID I have had a ton of friends attempt to hurt themselves and a couple that succeeded. Some sent to a mental hospital. I keep hearing that the strain of the COVID isolation has ruined an entire generation of teen girls and that anxiety and depression in us is exploding.
Today there was news that a teen boy shot and killed 17 children and several adults in Texas. A primary school so that means children close in age to my younger sister. It kind of is breaking me down just thinking of it. Last week there was a shooting at a grocery store where 14 people were shot. That was another teen and he supposedly did that because they weren't white. Being mixed race myself that one got me too. I made a terrible mistake and watched the video of it the boy had live streamed and I am just torn apart.
Today's though I can't process. Little kids. Not adults or even teens in my age range but younger grade schoolers. Both by boys only a bit older than me and the age of a lot of my friends and all. I feel terrible for it. Worse for the idea that adults my parents age keep talking about "Losing an entire batch of teens" like we came out of the oven burnt and needed to go in the trash or just written off.
I'm not really sure where I am going with that other than to say that it seems so dark and I worry for kids younger than me. It's shocking to see it going in this direction but.....ugh....fuck it...ok.....they constantly have news about laws to protect kids from this or that and trafficking and drugs but holy crap a lot of us are unhinged from getting dumped on constantly and nobody listening. Now the news is full of people arguing already over gun control laws but nobody saying hey you know maybe we could listen to some of the teens that are so far gone they think they need to kill everyone around them. Mandatory grief counseling. Yikes. More stress.
Maybe just actually try caring? Offering to let us talk to people about stuff without calling police and social workers or whatever? Offer actual help and not just cause us a ton more problems and stress with insane laws or weird restrictions? Shocking thought.
Sorry. I am done ranting for the night.
Very well said. As a father and recent grandfather, I watch the state of your generation and the next and my heart goes out to all of you. All I can do is offer understanding and an ear that will not only listen but actually hear what is being said. As a suicide survivor, I can relate to most, and I always have an open mind. The children are our future be there for them