Stem School follow up- do you remember that one? May 7, 2019

Each and every school shooting has autopsies done.  There must be a building housing all the information on Columbine.

Not long after the 20th Anniversary of the shooting at Columbine High School in April, 2019, there was a shooting at a school within a very short distance of Columbine.

Listen to what the students say.

Connect to the link below listen and read the dialogue.  Read, listen, act- in your own homes, schools and communities.

Colorado Public Radio interview with 6 students from Colorado Schools

Student attitudes about trusting adults is part of the problem as well because they are afraid to seek help.

The adult attitudes are most of the problem.  Previous news reports did state that the shooter, one of two, did threaten to shoot up the school.
The students do discuss other times when kids threaten to hurt people at other schools.

Colorado has a system called Safe to Tell.  Safe to Tell

One of the speakers talked about kids knowing how to make bombs.  Remember, bombs was the primary weapon of intent with the two Columbine shooters.  They resorted to the guns when the bombs failed to detonate as planned.  Pipe bombs did go off in Columbine during the shooting and after it as well.

‘He also talked about how he knew how to make bombs.’

At another High School, staff did something.

Mattysen will be a senior at Castle View High School. She said that within the first few weeks of her starting at the school her sophomore year, a student in her math class shared “weird, disturbing stuff” with her.

Mattysen: For a while he was talking about like, how many guns he had. And at one point he said, “Mattysen, when I come to shoot up the school, you’re going to be the first one that I kill.”

So I talked to the teacher about it and I was like, “Can you move me away from this kid, because he’s very creepy.” The teacher emailed the school counselors and was like, “This is happening, in my class. Like, can you do something about it?”

I get called up… and like six counselors, and our school resource officer, all start asking me questions about it and what I had seen. He had shown me actual plans of what he was going to do when he shot up the school   

Nalia: Like, typed-up plans?
Mattysen: No, he had just written them down in his notebook.

Lillian: But was the plan like, go to this classroom?

Mattysen: No, it was like, this is how I’m going to shoot up the school, this is when I’m going to shoot up the school. Like stuff like that, and then he also talked about how he knew how to make bombs. And so he would like, try to blow up part of the school before."  

The kids recommend Resource Officers in schools, not arming teachers (of which I do  agree that arming teachers is not the answer.).  As we saw in Parkland, Florida, the armed resource officer failed.  Prevention and speaking up before is absolutely necessary.


Marian R Carlino

June 7, 2019

Time keeps on slipping, into the future- Happy Anniversary?

                                                                                   

Update: May 17, 2026.. Stopping school violence needs to include holding parents criminally liable. One case in Georgia did hold at least one parent criminally liable; the other parent is no less guilty. In Virginia, an adminstrator is scheduled for a criminal trial this week. A civil trial held earlier this year, awarded a wounded teacher 10 million dollars after she was shot by her 6 year old student. That mother also was found guilty of crimes. 

Older post: 
One of the mistakes, purposeful intentions, and ignorant moves of Northfield Public Schools was the misinterpretation of the Individual with Disabilities Education Act.  Lucky for them I recited the Pledge of Allegiance every day with my class and focused on "with liberty and justice for all."  I knew my 25 kids were being served up a plate of injustice for three years.  The kid with the serious problems was taking up a huge part of our time and violating the rights of other children.  In fact, other important problems of children in his classes were being missed (child assaulted by her father).  He is included in the 25 count.  He was served an injustice too by administration and his parents.

 A huge error in justice happened last year in Parkland, Florida.  Between the Promise Act and the IDEA, Cruz the identified shooter, per all news reports, got away with murder.  Well almost, they caught him at McDonald's, right?

Published on June 7, 1999, in NJ, was  the Assembly Task Force on Adolescent Violence Findings and Recommendations.  I have written about it in other blog posts but since the news just broke on Reuters and Fox News that the officials in Jefferson County, Colorado (home of infamous Columbine fame) are floating the idea of tearing the high school down, I thought I would take a another step back in history too.

Now tearing down the school is certainly worth considering but the horses asses got out of the barn 20 years ago.  Too little, too late...  The events inspired the copy cats.  It is known as the Columbine effect.  They keep letting the keeper of the barn, the principal, talk in public which is a shame.
He even wrote a book for the 20th anniversary and did a book tour.

I have a better option for you to read.

 The findings in the task force book are still available (see link above), and like the GUIDE TO SAFE SCHOOLS August 1998  (check it out- it is still available) is worth reading even if you don't live in NJ.  Evidently some school districts did not get the memo the first time around.  I know for certain I gave out copies to teachers but Mainland and Somers Point teachers did not receive it well.  Neither did teachers in workshops I led.. well except for Atlantic City.  Those teachers got it.

If you don't want to read the complete documents which are set up in an easy to read format, at least pay attention to the Executive Summary in the Assembly Task Force on Adolescent Violence.  In a Guide to Safe Schools, the document is broken into sections.


Page 1 of the Guide to Safe Schools states in the third paragraph:

"The 1997-98 school year served as a dramatic wake-up call to the fact that guns do come to school and some students will use them to kill.  One after the other, school communities across the country from Oregon to Virginia, from Arkansas to Pennsylvania, from Mississippi to Kentucky- have been forced to face the fact that violence can happen to them.  And while these serious incidents trouble us deeply, they should not prevent us from acting to prevent school violence of any kind."

When you read the findings in both of these reports, made over 20 years ago, you may weep for the children.  You are not alone because Jesus did warn the women.  He told them " Do not weep for me, weep for your children."

Are you tired yet of weeping?  Read my post about my public letter of resignation.  I was tired of the violence in my class. It hadn't involved guns up to that point.  But I could see the hand writing on the wall.  PUBLIC LETTER OF RESIGNATION

In 2014, co-workers here in Pittsburgh got calls from their schools.  Franklin Regional High School is where  a kid went on an attack with kitchen knives.  It is not the weapon used.  All the shootings involved breaking the law.  This kids' parents wanted to give other people advice.  Franklin Regional High School

I am glad that the Resource Officer from the high school in Parkland, Florida has been arrested.
In 1999, after the Guide to Safe Schools was published (then ignored), all school district employees should have been held accountable. Who knew and did nothing? Doing nothing until the Swat Team is called in? They also can fail, to at first, do their jobs.  Send in the Swat Teams

Also, Sandy Hook evidently did not have a great impact on Parkland, Florida although a teacher there said it should have been a "9/ 11 for  Teachers".

I have been writing editorials even before my exit from public education.  The newspapers gave me a platform.  I hope people read and listen.  My past editorials are as relevant today, June 7, 2019 , as they were the day I wrote them.

If not you, who?  I woke up for good on March 24, 1998 when Shannon Wright died taking a bullet for a student.   In memory of Shannon Wright  This post is also repeated in my blog post of  Taking a cue from Rosa Parks.  I recommend the book by Parker Palmer, The Courage to Teach.

Marian R. Carlino
June 7, 2019