So this kid has been accused of plotting to kill 15 (or more) of his classmates at Rogers High School.
It seems like a lot of these school shooting plots have been foiled lately. That's good, but isn't the fact that they exist at all troubling? I don't know anything about this boy. His friends all say he was a nice guy... that maybe he had mental problems. Somehow his life became so horrible that he decided he would take himself out, and take his classmates with him. Or in the very least he contemplated it... it's possible he never really planned to go through with it.
How does our school system respond? They arrest him. Ultimately he's responsible for his own actions. But what's going on in our public schools? It's troubling. Why are kids today becoming more violent, more angry, more willing to commit unspeakable acts against their peers?
Maybe the one size fits all solution of high school isn't working. Maybe we need to look into alternatives. High school is four years of fun, provided you're good looking, or popular, or a jock, or a cheerleader. It's not so fun if you've got acne, or you're awkward socially, or you're not very good looking, or you're just plain unique. Maybe you're a girl and you're losing your hair. Maybe you spend your nights writing fan fiction. Maybe you're totally in to binary lifters.
Or maybe you like guns. Maybe your dad physically abused you. Maybe your mom abandoned you when you were young. Maybe your uncle molested you. Maybe you don't even remember. Maybe you like guns because they give you power. They give you the power you never had as a child. Maybe it feels good to have a gun in your hand, to hold in your hand sheer deadly force. Maybe you're full of rage. Maybe you fantasize about taking out the very people who make your life so miserable. Maybe you wish you could kill them. Maybe you'd never do it.
Maybe you're Dylan Klebold. Maybe you're Eric Harris. Maybe you're Kip Kinkel. Maybe you're a psychotic raging killer. Or maybe going to a school filled with people who would tease and taunt you... maybe that wasn't the best idea in the world. Maybe the problem isn't you. Maybe it's them.
I don't know. I don't even pretend to know. I'm just saying... maybe. Maybe our public education system is seriously broken and we need to start taking the problem seriously instead of whining about school vouchers and hiding behind teacher's unions.
What do you think?