Eskrima Kombat

Arapahoe High School

Tomorrow, December 14th, is the one-year anniversary of the Sandy Hook school shootings.

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There was yet another school shooting today at Arapahoe High School, which is not far from the scenes of the Columbine High School and Aurora Theater shootings. An unidentified student entered the school with a shotgun and called out a specific teacher by name, a teacher who was apparently his intended target. The maniac fired a shot, nearly missing the teacher, who fled the scene.

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As a teacher, this gives me chills. The laws are such that I can’t be armed, and neither can anyone else on campus. So if a madman with a shotgun barges onto the school grounds looking to kill, our options are moronically feeble –run, hide, crawl, pray.

I have written about how time and again school employees have stepped up and died to protect students, and yet these selfless individuals supposedly can’t be trusted with weapons. I’d say somebody who would sacrifice himself for a child can be trusted with a Browning .50 caliber machine gun.

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After each of these massacres people look for answers. Here, though, is an interesting article explaining what is known about school shooters.

 

School shooters don’t “snap” or “go crazy.” They have serious grievances, and they plan their attacks. Many felt bullied, persecuted, or injured by others. They engaged in behaviors that caused other students and adults to think they needed help. They showed difficulty coping with significant losses or personal failures. They told others about their plan. And they had access to weapons.

These patterns point to a different set of preventive measures. Instead of trying to put metal detectors at every door, which do little more than ensure that the operator of the metal detector gets shot first, schools need to do the more difficult work of creating schools where bullying is not allowed, where grievances are dealt with quickly, where students feel safe speaking up about a student they’re concerned about, where students feeling suicidal have someone to talk with. And at home, guns need to be under lock and key.

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This is why I was upset when I found that my friend’s son was being bullied at school –I know schools are typically ineffective in dealing with bullies. The people who are so big on non-violence, anti-violence, and peaceful conflict resolution are absolute crap at dealing with violent individuals. By the time Bobby –who’s been harassing, shoving, and hurting students, who are scared of him and scared to say anything– gets to the office Principal Touchy Feely is deeply moved by Bobby’s underprivileged childhood and domestic hardships. Principal Touchy Feely will try to “connect” with Bobby and make him understand the error of his ways. Of course, Bobby will be profoundly touched by this heart-to-heart discussion, but once he leaves and the office door is closed behind him, he will laugh at the stupid naivete of administrators and go back to making kids’ lives hell.

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By getting tough on bullies, and I’m talking brick-to-the-mouth tough, the school is reducing the likelihood of a mass shooting. The common yet untold story of the kid arrested for having a gun or knife on campus is that the armed student isn’t a bad kid –he’s someone who’s been picked on for a long time and is scared, because no one has intervened when he was bullied.

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Also on this page is an advertisement for a bulletproof whiteboard, which is intended to serve as a shield at school. (I discuss shield weapons in my book Street Fighting Weapons.) While it’s a start, this is another example of a defensive weapon, which entails more hiding, crouching, ducking, and praying.

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