Thursday, April 19, 2007

Tolerance not Ignorance

I have been watching as I'm sure everyone has the news about the Va. shootings, and I must say as much as I hate to that, Society has some responsibility for what happened in Virginia. Everytime something like this happens the media, makes such a fuss over the killers and what they were thinking, what did they do in their free time, what does their family do, that to a certain point they glamorize these sick individuals. It is always good to find out what makes a person react the way they do so we know how to avoid these types of endings or situations in the future, but when we repeatedly see a pattern and continue to ignore it something is wrong with us too! In almost every school shooting there was one HUGE common thread, that thread was that the person or persons in most of these situations were picked on and bullied for being different. When are we as a society finally going to understand that "JUST BECAUSE YOU MAY HAVE MORE THAN SOMEONE, DOESN'T MEAN YOU'RE BETTER THAN THEM?" This kind of ignorance is what has caused many of the tragedy's that are now being discussed in the news. Columbine, the Red lake High School shooting, this massacre now in Va. in each case the gunman is described as having been "bullied or picked on" and in each case the people around them described them as being "troubled". Yet instead of more people pushing to get them some help they continued to "bully them and pick on them" or flat out ignore them. In order to correct a problem, and prevent it from worsening you have to deal with it. Part of that "dealing with it" is in the way we educate our children and each other! IN NO WAY AM I MAKING AN EXCUSE FOR WHAT HAPPENED IN VA. OR IN ANY OF THOSE OTHER CASES, I AM SIMPLY SAYING TOLERANCE FOR PEOPLE WHO ARE DIFFERENT FROM YOU NOT IGNORANCE IS THE ANSWER! I cannot stress ACCEPTANCE enough. When we learn to accept people who are different from us and understand that it is wrong to go around thinking we "are more because we have more" I think then and only then will see a difference not only in the crime rate in this country but also in the racial relations in this country. Knowledge is POWER and IGNORANCE only leads to trouble!

9 comments:

Paul said...

Fighter you are absolutely right! The bullying and taunting that goes on in elementary and high school is terrible. The schools have to be held accountable for it because they are the adults. Some teachers even condone and encourage it. The schools need to provide a safe learning environment for all the students, not just their favorites.

FunkyTown Fighter said...

Thank-You! That is what I think too. As a teacher if you see something is obviously wrong, get that person some help, don't sit and do nothing because this is what happens!

Ziem said...

Exactly FTF!!

I read today where this kid has had all the warning signs since grade school. Where and who would he be today had they not ignored his cries for help?

Gun control, $5,000 for each bullet, education & reaction. Thats the key lady!

The Future Was Yesterday said...

The shooters obvious display of severe mental health problems over such a long time, the Professors and students who tried to sound the alarm...was anybody in power listening? Obviously not.

LET'S TALK said...

I concur, something is wrong with us when we continue to see a pattern and ignore it.

How can we solve this type of tragedy-- do we challenge the NRA and gun control?

Do we demand help for people known to have social problems?

This is a free country and we can't just isolate certain people.

Maybe what you and paul said might be the answer by demanding that the schools provide a safe learning environment for all students.

Undeniable Liberal said...

Infriggindeed. The lack of tolerance among the human race simply amazes me. Great post, Funkyone!

Tom Harper said...

Good post. Like you said, being ostracized doesn't excuse anyone's behavior. But since most of these mass murderers had a history of being taunted and excluded, we need to do something different.

I heard that after the Columbine shooting, some of the school jocks started picking on the "nerds" more than ever, like throwing somebody against a locker and saying "you're not gonna bring a gun and start shooting everybody, are you?"

Who Hijacked Our Country

Rebel Reaper said...

There should be no doubt in the minds of this country, we have lost our souls, and this country is lost if we do not take it back soon.

Pink Liberty said...

Bingo!! Acceptance, Understanding, and a Willingness to do both with everyone, with or without God's help!