My Career & Calling

 

It has been a long time since I last made a post for this blog, sorry. I've been drawn away by life and the ever pressing demands of a growing family. I hink now it's s a good time to reflect on this journey.

When I first started this journey I was a senior in high school. 

Now I have a Bachelor's of Science in Psychology, a beautiful wife and two young daughters. My career in the mental health field was stimed by a bad experience with an employer and COVID. Yet through all the ups and downs God has remained ever present and good.

As time has gone on however I've realized that Targeted School Violence is a ghost in the machine of public education. There exists not one single solution to get rid of it entirely.

 It requires a perfect storm of circumstances that turn seemingly "regular" kids into merciless killers. The media always present these tragedies with a paint-by-numbers partisan blame book.

 The victims and heroes are portrayed has having been slain senselessly by a villain empowered by the partisan policies of one political party vs the other.  People throw out their grievances and half-backed solutions until the next tragedy. It truly feels like an endless cycle.

I am convinced now that everyone has a role to play in reducing the likelihood of Targeted School Violence.

Bullying - Why and What can be done?

For my Senior Service Project in high school I spoke to over three-hundred eighth graders about tge realities of high school. I informed thwm that there were three reasons why bullies do what they do:  *below are the points I used my PowerPoint and the script *

1. To feel good - since they have nothing to feel good about within themselves and have found nothing to be proud of within their lives.
2. Power - Bullies they ether love the feeling of having power over others or because  they lack the power to change their bad circumstances at home.

3. Control: it's  not enough to have power over otha they must gave what they lavk most in their own lives.s

Now granted I was a eighteen year old, high school senior talking to a bunch of  eighth graders, so naturally I was quite confident in my information. Especially since it was based off of first-hand experience being a victim myself.  Now fast forward half -a-decade later and I know now that bullying doesn't just occur in school but also occurs in the workplace as well, even in retail by fellow coworkers. I also know that the real causes behind this phenomenon are extensive and circumstantial. But nothing makes this behavior morally right. So in  the course of my research I concluded that the reasons are only relevant to determining the appropriate solution to diffuse and decrease bullying. 

So what can be done?

As you probably know Bullying has evolved into cyberspace thanks to social media like Facebook and Twitter. According to my research there are some really great apps out there to help fight off cyberbullying. Yet one thing that doesn't exist (as far as I have researched) is an app that connects all social media accounts.

Jesus Christ Response to School Shootings

(We do not claim copyrights to these images)

How would Jesus Christ respond to school shootings?

Though Jesus is currently interceding on our behalf at the right hand of the father (Romans 8:34). We can only imagine how he must react to seeing believers and those whom his father created being slain on school grounds. In so we believe that for both the believer and the non-believer his reaction is the same. For both are loved by the father, who causes rain to fall on the righteous and the unrighteous (Matthew 5:45). Yet we cannot help but notice the similarities between the responses from both believers and nonbelievers.

"Jesus wept." (John 11:35)

Jesus knew what was going to happen to Lazarus, the brother of Mary Magdalene. For he told his disciples that "this sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God's glory so that God's Son may be glorified through it." (John 11:4).  Yet when he saw Mary and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. Then "Jesus wept". (35). We believe that Jesus weeps with the victims families, who have lost sons, daughters, wives, husbands, co-workers and friends. Yet note the two different reactions: 

Reaction #1.) "Then the Jews said, "See how he loved him!" 

Reaction #2.) "But some of them said,"Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?"

Time and again we have seen the second reaction repeat itself

School Violence Prevention

So  I found this image in my newsfeed on Facebook and I wanted to respond to it. But first let me establish where I stand on the gun control vs. gun rights debate. I am pro-second amendment with exception to felons and certain mental health disorders. I believe that every legal citizen should have the option to purchase a firearm and that upon purchase it's their sole responsibility to ensure the safety of other users and security from unauthorized users. Finally I do believe that there exist some serious inconsistencies between state-and-federal law with regards to firearm ownership and those suffering from mental health disorders. Nonetheless the purpose of this post is to address the above image as if it were a proposed solution to prevent targeted school violence nationwide (U.S.A).

 Research on School Security by the NASP (National Association of School Psychologists) have yielded significant findings on the matter. For example "research has found security strategies, such as the use of security guards and metal detectors, to be consistently ineffective in protecting students and to be associated with more incidents of school crime and disruption and higher levels of disorder in schools" (their words not mine). Now granted depending upon the locality demographics i.e city vs. small town or country, you may receive different results due to the different needs of the schools. 

Documentaries: Facts over Politics

There are a significant number of documentaries on mass school shootings nowadays. However the difference between a good documentary and a lousy one boils down to one statement: Facts over Politics. It has been my experience that when people watch documentaries they are looking mostly for accurate information on events and to a certain extent to be entertained. For I would love to meet the individual interested in a documentary on counting sand. As heartless as it is to think of an individual being entertained by the reenacting and dramatization of mass violence only adds insult to injury when the audience is being force-fed misconstrued facts to promote political agendas. Which as of now stems from one issue: Gun Rights vs. Gun Control, a matter that I plan to address in another post. I will provide two examples of good documentaries and one that is bad. 

Introducing Surviving Sandy Hook aired on March 4th, 2015 by BBC as part of their "This World series" directed by Jezza Neumann. This documentary focuses on the lives of the victim's families after the shooting; instead of just rehashing events as they unfolded. For that reason I can respect this film and give it a solid 6 out of 10. However throughout the film I noted a reoccurring theme of gun control (hence why it is mentioned here).
One thing I would like to highlight about this documentary is the interviews with the survivors, specifically the children. Who to the untrained eye appear not as traumatized as you would think from such a terrifying event. However considering the prowesses of the human mind to sheild itself from psychological harm



Introducing The Tower directed by Keith Maitland aired on March 13th 2016 and The Massacre at Columbine High by Discovery Channel as part of their Zero Hour series. The first documentary is on the shooting that occurred at University of Texas on August 1st, 1966 and the other is obviously about the mass shooting at Columbine High that occurred on April 20th 1999. 
What makes these documentaries so good aside from their ability to maintain the audiences attention is their objectivity to the facts. Yes the Discovery Channel could've included the martyrdoms of Rachel Scott and Cassie Bernall;  however I feel that would've skewed the presentation of the facts.
Now I grant that the facts of any single event in history is based on evidence and that evidence is often skewed by human error and time. However I am of the belief that if the evidence like shards from a shattered window can be put back in just the right way one can create the best view possible even with the presence of cracks.  Which in the end should be ultimate objective of every good documentary on mass school shootings.

Arming Teachers and Staff in U.S Public Schools: Example Analysis

So I was scrolling through my newsfeed on Facebook and I came across this meme featured above. Naturally I became quite curious about it and decided to do some research. My preliminary feelings on the matter were mostly of uncertainty. Now here are the results of what I have dug up.

In August of 2015 the School Board of Education for the state of Oklahoma approved of an "Armed School Employees" policy. However this comes as a year after the Okay Police Department was disbanded in  December of 2014. For reasons tied to suspected corruption in certain police departments that were disbanded on the local level. So my best understanding is that the shrink in law enforcement had led to security concerns for student safety, which prompted the passing of this policy? Honestly I am trying my best to be fair with my understanding of it all. So if you live in Oklahoma and can shed some light on why certain police departments were closed? Please comment on this post.

Side Note

On December 6, 1999 Seth Trickey, 13 fired a semiautomatic pistol at least fifteen times outside of Fort Gibson Middle School, wounding five students. He surrendered to police without incident and was sentenced to serve more then five years behind bars. According to experts that testified on the boy's behalf "he was influenced by Columbine (April 20, 1999)". This shooting was also included in the Safe School Initiative study conducted jointly by the U.S Department of Education and Secret Service in 2000. It should also be noted that Seth was released from prison on March 30, 2005.

According to the Muskogee Phoenix there is currently only one employee that qualifies to carry a weapon on school grounds.
 "For other employees to arm themselves, they must qualify with a Council on Law Enforcement Education Training certification or license; possess an Oklahoma Self Defense Act License; and be CLEET qualified with the firearm, according to the policy."

The Council on Law Enforcement Education Training Certification (CLEET) is more or less the same basic training that police officers undergo. The Oklahoma Self Defense Act is your standard concealed permit registry with mandatory training classes. The most notable part that I have found is the exclusion of domestic abusers and people convicted of or awaiting trial on assault and battery charges. 

In all honesty it sounds like the school board is doing everything right with the best intentions as not defined solely by political gain to benefit lobbyists, but out of a genuine concern for the safety and welfare of their students.
However, my objections to their efforts stem from facts that everyone should understand and acknowledge:

#1.) This policy will not prevent an incident of  targeted of school violence from occurring on school grounds. This will only lessen the number of potential deaths and injuries occurred in a single incident. For in order to activate the training that each certified staff member has received, a death or gun-related injury must occur on school grounds and within the vicinity of the specific staff member, in order to engage the subject and prevent further death or injury to others.
 At Columbine it was noted that the sounds of gun shots and explosions became mixed with the normal peace and tranquility of that Tuesday morning. Teachers that were giving quizzes thought the sounds were an annoyance.While other students and staff were running for their lives. Thus the size of the campus among other factors should be taken into consideration.

#2.)This policy is a new additional physical barrier that targeted school shooters can potentially shoot through and exploit with the potential for more injuries and deaths. All physical security have this common weakness. For example: On March 21, 2005 in Red Lake, Minnesota, Jeff Weise, 16, shot and killed the armed security guard posted at the metal detector at the entrance to his school and ended up killing five students and a teacher before committing suicide. The presence of a security guard, metal detectors and security cameras did not stop his attack. The potential for more victims must be acknowledged in the occurrence of a future incident.
Furthermore let us say that the student uses a knife instead of a gun in crowded hallway. As in the case of Franklin Regional High School in Murrysville in Westmorland County, Pennsylvania. On April 9, 2014, sixteen-year-old, Alex Hribal stabbed  twenty-four students and one security guard, resulting in five critical injuries and no deaths. In an incident of this sort, unless a teacher is armed with hollow-point bullets and has a clear opening on the subject there is an increase probability of injuring or killing other bystanders.

Information on the incident at Franklin Regional High School (Link below)
http://www.cnn.com/2014/04/09/justice/pennsylvania-school-stabbing/index.html


3#.) Any additional requirements for training or gun specifications requires a lot of time and money.The average school year in the U.S begins in September after labor day (5th) and ends in mid-to-early June. This leaves the average teacher with two-to-three months to relax and prepare for the next school year. Now we are expecting them to dedicate time to train to respond to a phenomenon that has a significantly low probability. But at the same time can be argued "better safe, than sorry".

#4.) This policy may complicate an incident where a school shooter is also using explosive devices.
History has shown incidents of targeted school violence have a contagion effect of inspiring other school shooters. There are many examples of shootings inspired by Columbine including:
Red Lake, Minnesota , Sandy Hook, Newtown, Connecticut, and Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia. Though thankfully in each incident listed bombs were not used, however there is always a possibility of this re-occurring. 

Conclusion:
In the words of  Dr. Peter Langman "By the time shooters are approaching the school with a gun, it is too late. Even if they can be kept from entering the building, they still can go on a rampage" (Why Kids Kill, Inside the Minds of School Shooters pg 206). This is only a solution to the issue of physical security. This is NOT a solution to prevent Targeted School Violence! The solution is out there inside the minds of the students, who are currently at the heart of every tragedy.

Sources
On this topic:
http://www.muskogeephoenix.com/news/local_news/okay-schools-allow-staff-to-arm/article_f50e1d9c-cb08-11e5-8b7a-0b7a35fbd54c.html
On CLEET and Oklahoma Self Defense Act
https://www.ok.gov/cleet/Peace_Officers/Certification_Levels/

http://digitalprairie.ok.gov/cdm/ref/collection/stgovpub/id/144096

On shooting at Fort Gibson in December of 1999
http://www.cnn.com/1999/US/12/06/okla.school.shooting.04/index.html?_s=PM:US

http://www.tulsaworld.com/archives/seth-trickey-s-release-final-judge-declares/article_55d68afa-e3c4-54f4-be09-9ec128f7b662.html

Sandy Hook School Shooting: The Nuclear Winter of Misinformation

I recently picked up Newtown: An American Tragedy by Matthew Lysiak 
There are two books on this tragedy (that I have found thus far) and I believe this is the best one due to the absence of political debates i.e. gun control. The author paints the details of the day without blush or shame. He also captures the events leading up to it, without interjecting his own opiniona. If you are ever curious about what truly happened that day I highly recommend reading this book.

According to the Safe School Initiative there was another shooting that occurred on this day twenty-four years ago in Virginia Beach. At Atlantic Shores Christian School, a student by the name Nicholas Elliot,  who was 16 years old at the time, brought a Cobray M-11 semi-automatic pistol to school.   Where he shot two teachers killing one and critically wounding another. After he was arrested they found three Molotov cocktails in Elliott’s locker and the makings of a pipe bomb in his book bag. Elliot was sentenced to life for murdering Farley and 20 years for wounding Marino. (Source:http://www.nytimes.com/1988/12/17/us/student-with-pistol-kills-one-teacher-and-injures-another.html

 There is a book on this shooting: Lethal Passage: The Story of a Gun by Erik Larson.

I haven't read the book myself, what little I have read about it suggests that this book is pro-gun control. A political view which like its opposite doesn't necessary report all the facts, so readers beware. 

I have also read the official report by the State Attorney of Connecticut, which had left me with a ton of questions.

First and foremost what kind of monster kills innocent first and second graders?! Naturally the brutality of such a crime is too much for the average mind to imagine. Thus the average individual has to make sense of it and thus they conclude its a conspiracy. 
I confess I was a skeptic an thus partially in this crowd due to the inconsistencies that  I thought I perceived in the official report and in the TV interviews with the victims families, among other things, that when forced together  suggested that this tragedy was a ruse for the proliferation of gun control.

But after reading Newtown: An American Tragedy by Matthew Lysiak, I can say that I am more angry by those that cry conspiracy  then I am by Adam's actions! Honestly it is an intolerable insult to these grieving families who lost their child only eleven days before Christmas. As in my studies of Columbine I have found that for certain families, time stands still and they are frozen in the horrors of that day.
According to Lysiak: Four policemen in full uniform crumbled into tears outside of one of them rooms at the sight of the massacre. There was almost two weeks of funerals some at the same time, most were right after the other in the same church. This tragedy was very real and remains so to these families and the community at large.

 Two other things I found even more upsetting:

W hen the families were gathering at the firehouse to pick up their kids, a man in a black trench coat came and starting talking to some of the kids. The man was tackled to the ground by some of the parents and held for questioning by police and then escorted off the premises.

Worse yet some of the funerals received death threats from pranksters, as if the community hadn't had enough!

Who was Adam Lanza?

 Every one whom I have talked to about Adam Lanza wants to label him as a "monster", "a maniac", etc. Honestly that would be a comfort if he was any of those things because it would be case-closed. HOWEVER, none of the evidence that I have found so far seems to support any of these theories. According to the book Newtown, former FBI agent, Mary Ellen O"Toole believes "Adam Lanza displayed clear psychopathic traits." Yet he wasn't out of touch with reality as all of this was premeditated according to the evidence at both crime scenes. 
There are two conflicting problems with premeditation as required for a cold-calculating psychopath. 1.) There is possible evidence to suggest that his original target was the high school. As "supposedly" his car had been caught on a security camera driving around the high school parking lot. 2.)  Adam hesitated when he walked up to the front door of Sandy Hook. If this shooting was as premeditated as suggested, why would Adam go to the high school first and then hesitated when he arrived the elementary school?
The ambiguity of facts and  limited evidence available to the public mixed in with the emotional, and political fallout of this tragedy has created a nuclear winter of misinformation. The like I am determined to shift through in order to discover what drove this man to commit such an atrocity. 

My ultimate hope is that in answering this question I may get one step closer to a solution to Targeted School Violence. The solution which I hope to begin discussing within my next post.