Monday, October 27, 2014

"Stay gold, Ponyboy." The Outsiders

As per usual, commentary on the MPHS shooting.

1. Stop giving the killer attention. It only draws other mal-adjusted kids to the flame. It's painfully obvious that the young generation is infatuated with celebrity. And why not? That's what they grew up with. MTV reality TV (born during GenX time), American Idol, Survivor, etc. These shows that make "normal" people famous- or in some cases, infamous. Even if it's negative attention, it's still attention.

2. Everyone's so freaking sensitive these days. Buck up, life's going to be a bumpy ride. Nothing will go perfect, especially if your plans, aspirations, and dreams are firmly cemented on what you see on television.

3. The amount of information today that is available to people is astronomical. We don't have the skills- at least young people don't- to compile, analyze, and absorb this information usefully. And because we have the information at our fingertips, we believe that it's more popular, more prevalent, or more frequent. In most cases, none of that is true. We see lots of car accident videos. Are accidents happening at a higher-than normal? I don't think so.

4. Prevention. What could have prevented the MPHS shooting? The elimination of firearms in the world. That is the only thing that could have prevented the shooting. Metal detectors? Shooter would have just started shooting at the school entrance. Parents locking up the firearms? Kids are sneaky. Grab the key to the gun case/lock sometime and access it when parents are asleep. If the parents took extreme precautions, the kid would find a different gun, or a different weapon, or devise a different plan.

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