I saw in the news that there had been another school shooting. I have a question. Why can’t society recognize the patterns that cause this and do something about them? Why are we treating the symptoms and not the cause?
I see patterns. For some reason, I tend to recognize patterns when they appear in different things. This is probably why is did ok as a computer programmer. Seeing patterns, or needed patterns and making computer logic work was something I did all the time.
But I also see patterns in people, and in events. I tend to know when someone will break their pattern of behavior or not. I see things in various events continue on until someone else spots them. I always thought that these things were easy to see, that they were very straight forward. I have learned in recent years that others just don’t see the same things I do, and therefore do not come up with the same conclusions.
At one company many years ago, I was constantly telling my bosses “I told you so.” They were totally blind to any patterns that were emerging thinking they could shape their desires on the world. (Maybe they needed to be manifesting better.)
Now when I look at the school shootings in the past four years or so, I see patterns. The key is that I am not the only one that does. The media sees the same patterns. The school boards see the same patterns.
Let’s see, in each case, we have a person or persons that are the outcasts of school society, they just don’t fit in. All too often they seem to be the geeks, or the nerds. They’re picked on by the other students, the ‘cool’ people, or the ‘in-crowd’ or whatever terminology you use for it nowadays. In many cases, these nerds band together in groups, just for self preservation. In recent events, they have taken to dressing in the fashion known as Goth.
So, what are school officials and counselors doing? They are looking at patterns as well. But they are looking for patterns in people that they think might be the next to ‘explode’. They are trying to see students who are ready to crack, and catch them before they do. That is admirable, but it is only a band-aid.
School employees look at the outcasts. The first thing that catches their eye is type of dress. So anyone dressing in the Goth style is immediately identified as a potential problem. They don’t realize that choosing a style of dress does not a gang make.
They look at students that are picked on and try to see where they are mentally, to see how close they are to going over the edge. They try to see how they are coping with the stress. Today’s society is filled with stress. The pressures put on everyone are enormous. I’m not surprised more people don’t crack. Add to that, the pressure of high school, and you have a recipe for disaster.
But these school officials are looking at the people that could break, and trying to keep them from breaking. That is admirable in one place. But in doing that, they are ignoring the causes of the problem. They’re treating the symptoms, not the disease. They are trying to get these students to cope with the stress rather than do something about lowering or removing the stress.
I was a nerdburger when I went through school. I was fairly smart, but I wasn’t the brain that most people associate with geeks think of. I was picked on by the ‘cool kids’. I was the target of jokes, the punching bag for those that felt the need, the all round dump on person by anyone with a team jacket or their friends. Because of the stress this put on me, my grades suffered, and I was lucky to make it out of high school in the normal 12 years. I escaped into a world of science fiction and fantasy. I read all the super hero comics constantly wishing I had some super power, or lived in a world where I could have some control.
There were times I snapped. I remember one time when a student wanted to prove to the ‘cool kids’ that he was cool. He started hitting on me and wouldn’t stop. I exploded. I just went into him. By the time I regained control, I had knocked him across several chairs, desks, and a set of risers. When we were taken to the principal, I was told that I needed to learn to control myself. Uh huh.
And here we have come upon the outlying problem that everyone seems to be ignoring. Why is it all right for the ‘cool kids’ to pick on people? Why is it all right for them to just walk all over whomever they want because they play football? Why is it that the nerds and the geeks and us lesser mortals have to learn to deal with this?
When are we as a society going to start looking at the causes of these problems and start doing something to make changes at the source? The schools are trying to spot students that could break and potentially hurt others. Why are they not trying to remove some of the stress by telling these people that pick on them that their behavior is unacceptable?
What they are doing is comparable to putting calamine lotion on measles. Let’s put something on those itchy red spots.
We need to start looking at the causes of these problems rather than the results, or we’re going to see similar results in the future. Yes, that is the pattern I see. ‘Revenge of the Nerds’ only works in the movies. When it works in real life, we end up with dead students.
The school officials and the parents need to get their heads out of whatever orifices they are stuck in and start making changes. They need to see that society needs to change. They need to know that it is ok to tell people who behave like bullies that this is not acceptable and will not be tolerated in society.
What is it going to take? I don’t know, maybe more people expressing their opinions in places like this. Maybe a conscious group effort to send out energies that will make things change. Now there’s a project. Take minute each day and send out energies to make changes in society. Just think about doing it, and it will happen.
Ok, so I’ve ranted quite a bit. But it felt good. The thing is, we can make changes. We just need to know we can. Once we’re aware of that, it will happen.