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8th-grader planned school shooting
gobrowns19
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http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090519/ap_ ... l_shooting
LAROSE, La. – A Louisiana middle school student stormed into a classroom and fired a gunshot over a teacher's head Monday before shooting himself in a bathroom, authorities said. Investigators found a suicide note and plans for a rampage in the teen's journal.
The 15-year-old student, whose name was not released, fired once around 9 a.m. inside a classroom at Larose-Cut Off Middle School, then shot himself in the head, said Lafourche Parish Sheriff Craig Webre. He was in critical but stable condition. The teacher had never taught the teen.
Webre said investigators found a note describing the boy's plans to "gear up" before his spree, along with a drawing of how he'd dress. The boy also scribbled "I am king" and "y'all will die!" on a sheet of paper investigators found.
Although he apparently was intent on killing people, he was armed with only four bullets for the .25-caliber, semiautomatic pistol he had taken from his father's home during the weekend. The boy's mother noticed he seemed nervous before school, but he said he was just worried about seeing his standardized test results, which were released Monday, Webre said.
About 500 sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders attend the school in a rural community of about 7,000 people, some 45 miles southwest of New Orleans. Webre said the boy had no disciplinary problems at school and hadn't been in trouble with the law. The teen had no reason to be in the classroom, he said.
He was a year or two older than most of his classmates, who described him as a quiet boy who never talked about guns or violence.
Webre said investigators found inside the boy's bookbag a completely filled journal and two loose sheets of paper that appeared to be a plan for the shooting and a suicide note. The school has both standing and handheld metal detectors, but they aren't used all the time and weren't in use Monday.
Webre said the boy arrived at the school in uniform — white shirt, khaki pants — but changed into camouflage pants shown in his drawing. In an expletive-laced note, he wrote, "First, I will tell my art class teacher that I had to go to the bathroom. Then I would go to the last stall and 'gear up.'"
Eighth-grader Dustin Sevin said the boy has been his friend for several years and that he never talked about guns or violence. At the end of second period, his friend said he needed to see the nurse and left with his backpack.
The teen apparently headed to another classroom, walked to the front of the room and pointed the pistol at the whiteboard, said sheriff's spokeswoman Sgt. Lesley Hill-Peters. He tried to fire at the board, but it wouldn't go off. He then stepped forward, pointed the gun at the teacher, raised it and fired a single shot over her head.
Coley Gaspard, 14, said he was in his seventh-grade English and reading class when the boy came in. The teen yelled for everyone to get down, cursing at the class.
Nobody moved. Gaspard knew the boy, whom he described as quiet and nice, and thought it was a dramatic enactment for some sort of lesson. Then, he said, the boy walked over and pointed the gun at the teacher, ordering her to say, "Hail Marilyn Manson," referring to the shock-rock icon, Gaspard said.
She said nothing. He fired into the wall and told another boy to get up. The seventh-grader stayed in his seat, and the teen left.
Hill-Peters, the spokeswoman, said she couldn't confirm Gaspard's account.
"After a situation like this you're going to have a lot of kids, a lot of parents, a lot of people saying a lot of stuff," she said.
The school was scheduled to reopen Tuesday with enhanced security and several counselors on hand.
My question that arises from reading this is 'what is it that makes students in our country in the last two decades do this and things like it?'
Gun laws are more relaxed now? Generations have been raised more violent? Our society being one that is always scared? What is it?
I've been thinking about it and would like to know your opinions...and in depth please
LAROSE, La. – A Louisiana middle school student stormed into a classroom and fired a gunshot over a teacher's head Monday before shooting himself in a bathroom, authorities said. Investigators found a suicide note and plans for a rampage in the teen's journal.
The 15-year-old student, whose name was not released, fired once around 9 a.m. inside a classroom at Larose-Cut Off Middle School, then shot himself in the head, said Lafourche Parish Sheriff Craig Webre. He was in critical but stable condition. The teacher had never taught the teen.
Webre said investigators found a note describing the boy's plans to "gear up" before his spree, along with a drawing of how he'd dress. The boy also scribbled "I am king" and "y'all will die!" on a sheet of paper investigators found.
Although he apparently was intent on killing people, he was armed with only four bullets for the .25-caliber, semiautomatic pistol he had taken from his father's home during the weekend. The boy's mother noticed he seemed nervous before school, but he said he was just worried about seeing his standardized test results, which were released Monday, Webre said.
About 500 sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders attend the school in a rural community of about 7,000 people, some 45 miles southwest of New Orleans. Webre said the boy had no disciplinary problems at school and hadn't been in trouble with the law. The teen had no reason to be in the classroom, he said.
He was a year or two older than most of his classmates, who described him as a quiet boy who never talked about guns or violence.
Webre said investigators found inside the boy's bookbag a completely filled journal and two loose sheets of paper that appeared to be a plan for the shooting and a suicide note. The school has both standing and handheld metal detectors, but they aren't used all the time and weren't in use Monday.
Webre said the boy arrived at the school in uniform — white shirt, khaki pants — but changed into camouflage pants shown in his drawing. In an expletive-laced note, he wrote, "First, I will tell my art class teacher that I had to go to the bathroom. Then I would go to the last stall and 'gear up.'"
Eighth-grader Dustin Sevin said the boy has been his friend for several years and that he never talked about guns or violence. At the end of second period, his friend said he needed to see the nurse and left with his backpack.
The teen apparently headed to another classroom, walked to the front of the room and pointed the pistol at the whiteboard, said sheriff's spokeswoman Sgt. Lesley Hill-Peters. He tried to fire at the board, but it wouldn't go off. He then stepped forward, pointed the gun at the teacher, raised it and fired a single shot over her head.
Coley Gaspard, 14, said he was in his seventh-grade English and reading class when the boy came in. The teen yelled for everyone to get down, cursing at the class.
Nobody moved. Gaspard knew the boy, whom he described as quiet and nice, and thought it was a dramatic enactment for some sort of lesson. Then, he said, the boy walked over and pointed the gun at the teacher, ordering her to say, "Hail Marilyn Manson," referring to the shock-rock icon, Gaspard said.
She said nothing. He fired into the wall and told another boy to get up. The seventh-grader stayed in his seat, and the teen left.
Hill-Peters, the spokeswoman, said she couldn't confirm Gaspard's account.
"After a situation like this you're going to have a lot of kids, a lot of parents, a lot of people saying a lot of stuff," she said.
The school was scheduled to reopen Tuesday with enhanced security and several counselors on hand.
My question that arises from reading this is 'what is it that makes students in our country in the last two decades do this and things like it?'
Gun laws are more relaxed now? Generations have been raised more violent? Our society being one that is always scared? What is it?
I've been thinking about it and would like to know your opinions...and in depth please
Happiness is only real when shared
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Comments
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It's both sad and good at the same time. Sad for the obvious reasons, good because his poor planning and inadequate math skills... 4 bullets = 'Killing Spree'???... means the damage is contained to one less tainted set of chromosomes in the gene pool. It's Darwin's Theory put into practice... the thinning of the herd.
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Jaded? Me? Really? How'd you guess?
We live in a place where guns are worshipped, violence is accepted (but naked tits get the blurred treatment... because we all know how dangerous those tits are, with those sharp tips and all) and celebrity for stupidity is how to make a name for yourself.
So... yeah... I guess i'm fucking jaded. If we're not going to even fucking try to do something about it except to accept it as 'Free Fucking Will' and the god given right to free access to guns and justice for all... then, we shouldn't be fucking surprized when it happens... again. It's getting to be an expected event here... just like those car chases we all love to watch, but get so disappointed when they don't end in a firey wreck of death and destruction.
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And don't worry... if you feel bad about that kid... you'll see him when you go to Hell. Along with all the rest of us.
Hail, Hail!!!
At its core, capitalism puts individuals against each other in a lifelong competition to get ahead, from day one of school. For some of us its not the way we're wired. We actually care about other people, and would like to work together to achieve goals, whatever those are. Most of us turn to rebelling in other ways...drugs, alcohol, skipping class, dropping out of school, whatever the case may be.
This kid and others have chosen a different way to express that angst, I believe. And there may be reasons for that.
Culture in America is becoming more and more violent....in every media we see. On the news the government is bombing some country to solve a problem, the movie hero of the day is kicking ass and solving his/her problems-tv shows reward greed and selfishness and scheming. like Cosmo mentioned, nudity is still blurred on tv, but brains on teh sidewalk, no problem. America has become desensitized to violence. and I believe everything about our culture is carefully crafted and shaped by the corporate owners who feed us the bs.
every part of it is breeding these outsiders, and every day alienates them more. violence is what they know, and guns are easy to come by. I'm actually surprised it doesn't happen more. kids acting out on a society they want nothing to do with.
education in amerika is criminal. it trains drones for the work force, not independent thinkers and compassionate individuals. I smoked pot in highschool every day before class, at lunch and after school. that's how i chose to escape the bullshit...still got good grades, anyone can recite random capitols if they look at a book long enough. I can't recite those same capitols now...which is either the weed or the teaching methods. probably a combo of both. but that's not learning. they are not teaching critical thinking, in any way. more the opposite. just accept everything. watch tv. listen to commercials. compete. be selfish and greedy. you might get ahead...
the problem is the end result. not everyone is wired to want to become rich or famous. I don't care about any of those things i know that. but that's the prize for succeeding at capitalism. some of us would rather not spend a life trying to achieve those ends.
Well said. I agree.
so if big evil capitilism is the source of Americans problems, what system should we adopt?
and your little rant about American education system is a fucking joke.
overreact much? go live in Islamabad Pakistan and tell me if guns and violence are worshiped. and stop acting like this is a weekly event. they have become few and far between. what should we do...ban all guns? I swear some of you just like to type a bunch of bullshit and jerk off to it later.
as an educator of the public school system, i see doors open for kids who are normally marginalized. and to address your point of being in highschool and learning capitals, where did you attend highschool? the learning of capitals is a third grade standard in our district.
thats the problem with Commy. he knows all. he has all the answers. the world is very cut and dry. and its all too easy to paint something with a broad brush.
Where do you teach? I've tutored in multiple cities in Ohio and know junior high kids that couldn't list our own state capital. Our education system is a crushing failure.
That said, not everyone belongs in school. People that are born to be "independent thinkers" will manage it with or without school. But not everyone has that capacity and aptitude. Let's face it, most people are stupid, lazy, and apathetic. They're not made for anything more than to be a worker bee. There's a reason every human society since the dawn of civilization has had rulers and the ruled... because the masses need leaders to tell them what to do, going all the way back to a tribal chief. We're bred for this. And it's time we recognized it. Because as it is, these kids spend 12 years learning nothing of value except entitlement and most of them hold the real winners back from success.
You're so cute when you over react. You seemed to have missed the gist of my message... perhaps I didn't spatter enough jizz on it to your liking.
Now, let me explain it to you... you folks that take everything so fucking literally...
These types of violent acts have become routine in America. So routine, this story was relegated to those stories on our news broadcasts that are reported after the weather. Sure, in Louisiana, where it happened (and other places where the news usually consists of how much the grass has grown today) it was newsworthy... but, not in America as a whole. We have become used to this... when there are at least 5 dead... then, it becomes important enough to report on.
The point is that in all the muck and mire we bury ourselves with here... shit like this has become just part of the muck and mire. Car chases, school shootings, Britney sightings, drive-bys... they have all become one in the same.
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You responded in the exact way I expected someone to react...
I said nothing about guns except for the fact that they are considered sacred in this country (do you disagree?)... and you tell me to go to Pakistan??? And I'm over reacting???
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Oh, and the part about us all going to Hell... I wasn't kidding... we're all going to Hell. You, me that kid and everyone else in the world. I'll see you there.
Hail, Hail!!!
i understand that there will always be individuals who lack the cognitive capacity to retain trivial information, that is why i inform my students that the "nonsense" they are learning is more of a "push up" for their brain. it will in time, create a stronger person/mind. they believe me, because i tell them the truth.
i also inform them of the fact, i am trying to prepare them for a job that may not even occur yet, when asked the age old question of "when am i ever going to use this?"
i agree also.........not everyone belongs in higher education/school. we have diluted our universities with "entitlement" and these entitled persons do, as you stated, hold the winners back.
mmmmm I like it when you talk dirty. your little rants are always entertaining.
whats bullshit is that this has not become all too common. they are actually few and far between. and how do you expect the media to react? yes of course, this is just another story that comes on before the weather. we live in country of 300 million people. crimes like this, along with car chases, drive-bys, etc, is going to happen from time to time. how should we and the media react? you think every single violent crime that happens in America should become nation wide news? why?
And It doesn't help when a major objective of schools are to teach kids to get higher scores on the standardized tests because the results of those test scores are tied to monetary rewards... right?
Hail, Hail!!!
my family did not have the resourses to pay for my college, i am thankful for the objective to get higher scores, it allowed me the opportunity to succeed.
By monetary awards... I meant in the form of Federal money to the school district.
Isn't that how it works... the schools that get higher overall test scores... get more money?
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What are you talking about?
Hail, Hail!!!
i agree..........a student scores high, they receive money in the form of scholarships.
in our district, we do not receive extra funding for high scores.
I think he meant it's ridiculous that teachers are forced to teach to standardized tests because funding for the school itself is tied to those results, not that scholarship incentives are a good thing.
Can't you lose money for low scores though?
And don't most scholarships lean heavily on factors other than test scores?
I'm a big fan of standardized test though... my standardized test scores are always off the charts... pity my grades, effort, and achievement never match them
you could test out of the class...................and then i would use you as a peer instructor.
as for losing money..........i have not seen that applied to our district. i do believe it happens, not sure though.
I bet you tell that to all the boys...
There was a time... in the not too distant past... where a shooting at a school was BIG NEWS. There's not supposed to be shootings at schools... fights, yeah... gang shit, expected. But the whole thing about going into the classroom only to be gunned down by a classmate... yeah, at one time it was big news.
And as you have stated... in agreement with the basis of my point... we have become acclaimated to accept this type of violence as part of our normal society... along with car chases and gang related drive-bys. We have found it just part of our normal, every day living that Metal Detectors are required at schools today. Metal detectors to locate guns and knives at schools. What does that tell us about our society?
That is my point.
Hail, Hail!!!
What I meant was the standardized testing that test whether or not the schools in the district will receive Federal money. So, schools... driven by administrators... run a curiculum that teaches the students to pass the tests... not to understand the underlying material they should be learning as a basis for a more competative future workforce.
What tests are you talking about? Do the students get the money for those test scores?
Hail, Hail!!!
i am fortunate, with regards to my administrator, the opportunity and freedom to teach outside the standard curriculum, as long as i teach the curriculum, as well.
as for the tests..........i am looking at it differently. students do not receive a "pay check" for scoring good. they recieve the opportunity at a scholarship/money for their efforts.
i think what cosmo is speaking to is in regards to funding FOR the schools themselves, not for scholarships. two seperate things.
i think what many take issue with, including many educators, is 'teaching to the test.' and yes, most schools i hav found DO allow and encourage teaching outside the standardized testing curriculum.....just that at times, there isn't enough TIMe in the schedule to do much outside of it. that said, just about every teacher i have worked with HAS managed to balance both, amazingly so. and i see much to encourage creativity, critical thinking skills, etc. granted, i admit, i have never worked in a poor district, so i have no idea. from those i know who have....they definitely teach to the lowest common denominator, and when there is a student of promise, they do try their damndest to offer as much opportunity. it's difficult, very difficult. even in 'good' schools....to try and balance, to challenge the gifted, not leave the slower students behind....and teach to the average student, simultaneously, it's a constant juggle.
in rgeards to funding, i am unsure of federal spending...but from what i have seen/read on the state level, whih is the main base of public school funding, it is mostly on need. in our area anyway - one of the highest property/school taxes in the nation - funds go up to albany and then divvyed up by needs. that is why oftentimes when there is published price per student comparisons, for differing school districts.....it illuminates the many high-need programs for special ed, ESL, etc.
as to the OP.....school shootings/violence are sadly becoming far too common a problem.
Let's just breathe...
I am myself like you somehow
Then, your district is doing something completely different.
Over here, the districts basically compete for Federal Funding... all the 'No Child Left Behind' money. The higher the overall test scores, the greater the monetary award to the school.
So, in order to get the highest test scores, the teacher are told to teach the kids how to pass the tests... basically, memorizing crap and stuff. The dumb kids.. (as in, some cases, they may be dumb in the can't read or spell crap, but can fix your computer in a second, dumb) are told to stay home on the day of the tests in order to keep those lower results out of the mix.
It's like a sporting event where your school, for example, will compete against it's rivals... just like a football game. The school with the higher score gets to think it is smarter that the others... when the fact may be, they are better at taking the test than their rivals.
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Scholarships are a completely different thing. The kids apply for those, usually assisted by a sponsor (teacher) and are the ones who show the most promise. Those students are more than likely to be ones with higher grades and achievements and the inability to fund a college enducation on their own. Otherwise, the kids who cheat on the standardized test... and don't think for one minute that cheating does not occur when money is involved... would get the scholarships.
Hail, Hail!!!
I agree our society has changed since, say, the 50s? but a school shooting still makes national news today. the article posted is about a planned shooting. not one that actually happened. that is not BIG news.
but anyway, yea I agree with you. our society needs to improve in terms of violent crime. we shouldnt settle that violent crime is "normal".
I agree. Our teachers are tasked with some pretty shitty objectives. It makes me sick...
Teaching... in my opinion, is one of the noble professions. They are usually underpaid and expected to transform a kid into a person... as long as that person meets a specific requirement. In too many cases, the school is basically a day care center while the parents are at work.
I think most teachers go into teaching because they want to make a difference... because they sure aren't going to make any money. That's what administrators and school board members do... make money. The dark side of teaching is administration.
And everytime a school issue comes up for a vote... it loses. Everyone bitches and complains about education this and schools that and kids everything... but, every school bond goes down in flames. My guess is that money is more important than education.
Hail, Hail!!!
no its not
http://youthviolence.edschool.virginia. ... tings.html
we have 50,000 students and only one district, so we do not compete against others.....interesting. i do wonder if that is the reason our district has not developed into smaller districts. thus, no need to compete against each other.
if i remember correctly, we are the largest district west of the mississippi. i am not certain.
well, i disagree about the daycare center assessment. 10 years of teaching, and the students were learning, not just being babysat. i was and still am continually amazed at how much can be accomplished with so little time, and at times, too little funding. the administrative issues are and probably will always be, some sort of 'issue'......but i salso think, especially within public education, somewhere....'standards' to some degree are necessary to measure learning. obviously, i think it all began with the best of intentions, and went awry somewhere.
in regards to funding, in my area anyway...i think far too much money is thrown at schools, perhaps the wrong schools....and more speciafically, thrown at the wrong things. like so much else, there is so much waste. many of the top districts in the country are in my area, but we also have a few low performing schools too. is it the schools, the parents, the funding.....?...it's all so complex. however, when over 65% of my already inflated property taxes is going specifically in support of public schools "more money" isn't necessarily the answer imo. also, our teachers are some of the highest paid in the nation. no, it's still not a BIG paying position, especially for the education requirements, but most of us went into it knowing that, accepting that, realizing the other 'good' in the profession. i have moved on since, but the $$$ wasn't the issue. anyhoo, with many things, i don;t think $$$ alone is the answer, at all. for some schools and some areas, absolutely.....but it's not the end-all, be-all.
jlew....even 1 school shooting is too *common* imo, and we've had more than just one. that's my only point.
Let's just breathe...
I am myself like you somehow
Then, according to that report... it should be of even greater importance to the news media and americans in general since that Louisiana school can expect it to happen once every 12,800 years. It should be the lead story... but, it isn't. Why is that? It's probably because it has become a norm... like tornados in Texas or Earthquakes in California. We have become jaded.
The report goes on to say that measures we've taken have prevented these shootings... but, that still does not take away the fact that we are required to have metal detectors at our schools. I feel that is a sad social commentary on our nation as a whole.
Hail, Hail!!!
how do we know it didnt make the national news?
yahoo, to many, is the national media, and the first line of information. this is a fairly large story and probably even larger locally. and rightfully so.