News:
Sadly another report comes of a student shooting in his school, killing one student and seriously wounding four others before killing himself. “The students and teachers in this community, near Seattle, had known they were no more immune to violence than Columbine or Sandy Hook; they had even practiced lockdown drills. But they never could have guessed who the perpetrator would be.” [New York Times, 26/10/2014]
Comment:
Practical lockdowns and safety drills have become part of the school curriculum to tackle the steady rise in gun-related violence in American schools. Where schools in the Unites States are supposed to offer the best of the best of the educational facilities and accessibilities to receive a good education in a safe and secure setting. Yet more and more students dread the everyday child’s passage of rite. It is not a test or essay assignments that force students to hamper these tormented feelings, rather it is a cocktail of pressures from their peers some amplified and others severely downplayed until it has become a weekly feature on the evening news…. Guns and shootings in schools.
News reports cite the conflicted circumstances that lead up these often-tragic results. Police and guidance counselors often report the hidden troubles students suffered ranging from school bullying to feelings of isolation or rejection by their peers. These students oftentimes suffer immensely as their problems are amplified due to the difficult teenage years as this is used as a catch-all phase commonly touted in the West as being a time of experiment, recklessness, or finding one’s identity. However the shocking trend in these violent occurrences is not how the typical characteristics of a lone introvert type who is tormented emotionally reacts, but as it happened in the Washington school – a popular well-loved athlete who opened fire on his friends.
National reports filled with heartbreaking details especially for parents who become consumed with dread when sending their children to school, with a common fear now unleashed – Will this happen at my kid’s school? or even worse… Will my child make it home?
Media and accepted lifestyle choices have flooded mainstream American society with a palate for violence whether it is glorified in blockbuster movies or the ever-popular video games available in all imaginable devices. All the blood and gory and “if I can’t have it, no one can” attitude is manifested with fatal consequences. What is even more appalling is not these students’ behaviors, but what compelled them to carry out these horrendous crimes in their tender age? It is the environment that nurtures and caters to the lust for violence. Of course, the movie and game industry or the warped beauty industry hardly takes responsibility for their twisted concepts of how teenagers are supposed to act and look. But then it goes deeper than this, it delves into the concepts in which it holds about life and the misplaced values they place on the wrong things, instead of self-respect and respect for human life and preserving a bond among its citizens, they act on their whims simply because they can.
This stark contrast of “what I want and whenever I want” behavior versus what is supposed to be valued and held sacred has devastating results on all levels from the school bullies all the way to the school kid shooters in American society. The feelings of widespread anxiety is in its place; parents need to be very concerned for their children’s safety and wellbeing.
Written for the Central Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir by
Um Muhanad