this story makes me feel ever more justified in my resolve to never, never, never, ever, ever, ever, EVER (a thousand million times never) have children. now, i have had plenty of teachers that i’m not entirely fond of…but even at my most vindictive am no where this calculating and malicious. at least, not at 8-or-9-freaking-years-old i wasn’t!
anyone who tries to change my mind by playing up the innocence and joy of having a child can just suck it dry right now. these kids were meticulous and full of ill-will. they were not innocent little lambs, and hell, they were organized into a large group of would-be murderers. each with his or her own devious task!
sometimes i find myself undermining the power and will of children — which, as a child myself, was something i hated adults for doing to me — but these days, not so much. ineffectual, uninvolved parenting and a culture hellbent on spending more energy finding a halfway-decent scapegoat over any smidgen of self-awareness or accountability is breeding a society of truly disturbing individuals.
this incident in georgia makes me wary, however, because it’s only a matter of time until the media turns its sights towards [television/video games/music/the internet] and unleashes its full-blown fury and total blame. what about these kid’s parents? where are they in all of this? why doesn’t anyone wonder how eleven children were furious enough to band together and plot the demise of their teacher? didn’t any of their parents notice a bit of simmering rage in his or her child? and the teacher/school system…while i don’t believe whatever the teacher did would warrant death, maybe there was a reason that so many children were willing to go to these extremes?
nobody every fucking owns up to their responsibilities in things like this. it’s always the evil influences in the world that are warping the children into little time bombs and miscreants. because, that’s far easier than admitting “i am a bad parent/teacher/guardian/counselor/etc.” far simpler than owning up to your own failures and saying “i have failed my children, i have failed myself.” sure the school systems are responsible to some extent, and i’m not disputing the ailing quality of our education system…but the heart of the problem is in the parenting these children are (or are not) receiving.
For decades we have heard media report, after media report listing the usual suspects: violence on television, video games and music. We’ve learned a lot about preventing bullying and teaching students to report even seemingly minor threats. And while schools are becoming adept at detecting and preventing attacks, at the heart, this is not a “school” problem, this is a “family” problem. Our teachers who serve our families cannot do their job if we as parents are not doing ours or at least trying to figure out how to do it better. (source)
and really, how can any parent, teacher or politician just come out and say “oh [insert scapegoat here] made the children do it, obviously! we must stop the evil influence of [whatever scapegoat] now! let us join against it!”? because, isn’t that just admitting that the children of america are easily-influenced buffoons that cannot differentiate between right and wrong? is that really the picture we want to present as a nation? the “future” — as children are so often referred to — of our country rests on the shoulders of a generation that is so easily swayed by whatever sensationalized suggestion they are exposed to?
as a parent blame whatever you will for your children’s misdeeds, but what it implies in the end is that you yourself have sired a fool.
congratulations!
me? i shall happily remain child-free, thank you very much.
