The Angry Minute 3-9-01
At the now infamous Santana High School, S. California where two students were killed, officials said the four students who had heard Charles Andrew Williams threaten to shoot classmates and failed to report him will be barred from school for their own good. Yeh, they've only witnessed two of their classmates killed, and 13 of their friends shot, I say it's time for a little discipline.
I mean, really, what were they thinking…
Said Superintendent Granger Ward: My job is to be concerned about all the students' safety.'' Oops. I guess someone took the wrong day off!!
I guess it only makes sense. It's like an Efficiency Expert hired not just to make changes, but more importantly to show changes, because after all, real changes are waay too hard to showcase.
I say we walk the 4 classmates up and down the square naked in their tighty whitey's, their mouths bound by duct tape-maybe next time they'll speak up. Or maybe there won't be a next time. Can you imagine the guilt, or the accountability they feel right now?
I mean, what's the point here? If it's to show the students that threats should be taken seriously, I'm pretty sure they got a dose of reality on Monday. If it's to set an example, why not fire the man on payroll with a pension plan who had the responsibility of protecting the kids whose lives will never be the same again. Oh, that's right sorry, he's a little busy right now, handing out expulsions for kids who were still learning the difference between an off-color joke, and psychopathic behavior. I guess they'll really know now!
When will we stop misinterpreting blame & punishment for correction & discipline, and start paying attention to the REAL underlying issues like awareness. These are our kids-yours, mine-we're to blame. We're the corporate exec's making hand over fist on Video games showing decapitation with No Consequences. We're the movie-goers who enjoy a cannibal on a silver screen for sheer entertainment. But when all is said and done, it trickles down to these very kids who pay with taunt after taunt, 2 dead children, and an ANGRY helpless MINUTE.
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