Yeeh, as a parent of grandparent my ideal would be the schools filled with armed Gawd-knows-who yahoos, bored out of their skulls at best. Yet another example of your fabulous thinking processes

@AnneWimsey Can you cite a mass shooting at
a school that had an armed security guard on station?

What do you propose?

@skado Please read my reply to that FvckY0u guy on my comment thread on his post.-
"Pick 1, only 1."

That would be a start. Generally speaking, when people largely feel contented with life and there aren't as many social & political issues causing them needless stress, the level of violent crime tends to go on the decline. Also, thank you for taking the time to ask that, as far too many would be lost in their own thoughts and personal agendas to ask anyone else for any alternative ideas.

@SpikeTalon
Sounds like you've diagnosed it about right.
Education and Mental Health.

What's the treatment?
How do we make it happen?

@skado We need to go back to the days when identity politics didn't get in the way of all of the politicians working together to find common ground for the good of all of the citizens they were elected to serve. That would be a good start where the politicians are concerned. As for we the citizens, we need to stop what has become the default position to immediately criticize and consequently bully and dehumanize any opposing point of views.

The MiddleWay had once said to me that all of these social media sites just weren't good for his mental health, and while initially I disagreed with his decision to vacate the site (had considered that giving up on his part, more or less), the more I think about that the more I believe he may have been on to something there, a point that too many others quickly overlook for whatever personal reasons they may have. Social media, in one form or the other, has been around now for at least fifteen years, and coincidentally (or not so coincidentally) in the time since we are seeing a sharp increase in random acts of violence like mass shootings. Too many kids these days don't spend enough of their spare time outdoors playing or read enough books, and spend too much time on their preferred gadget arguing and competing with others on social media. Certainly a point that should be taken into deeper consideration there.

Ultimately in the end, nothing much of any beneficial changes occur due to how hostile our culture and identity politics have become. If we as a whole could somehow get past that mentality, my suggestions for improvement mentioned on that other thread could become a reality. We keep holding ourselves back though, and this point I wonder if there's any turning back from that path?

@SpikeTalon
You're telling me what's wrong, and how it ought to be, and I don't disagree.

But I don't know how to get from here to there.

What's the plan?

@skado Getting to the desired destination is the tricky part, and like I mentioned in the previous reply at this point I doubt we'll ever get there based on the way things are currently. I'm still trying to think up a way to somehow convince the politicians from both political sides to agree with each other long enough in order to bring about those changes, so said plan is a work in progress.

@SpikeTalon
Anything we can do to protect kids in the meantime?

@skado Yes, harden security measures for all school buildings, similar to how municipal buildings are protected. Reinforced doors and windows. Metal detectors at every entry point. A continuously monitored alarm system that would alert authorities in an emergency. Have at least one resource officer at the ready, someone who would actually do their job should the need ever arise, unlike the cowardly security guard during the Parkland shooting.

Regarding Audrey Hale, the Nashville school shooter, evidence indicated she had other targets, two other schools and maybe even a local shopping mall, but decided on skipping over those schools due to them having more hardened security measures in place. So she went with the target that was least safe, and unfortunately she found too much "success" (dare I use that word) in locating defenseless targets. That tells me certain security measures do deter criminals. That all said, one thing I would not be in favor of would be to arm the teachers... not necessary if the above security measures would be in place. Entry doors in particular are a key defensive measure, maybe have double entry doors that are reinforced. Local police forces should be prepped for school invasion scenarios, and constantly at the ready should the need arise.

@SpikeTalon
What's the process for putting that in place?

@skado Attending school board meetings and voicing your opinion on the matter. Or, contacting your local representatives urging them to take some sort of action to better secure the schools. The people in charge of running the schools need to hear from the citizens who have children that go to school in their districts, and that the citizens want actual change. That might be the best way to go about handling that. If the school admins don't get any feedback from the citizens, I rather doubt they'd make any changes on their own.

@SpikeTalon
Do you expect it to happen?

@skado On a largescale, doubt it. My local high school in the city, to my understanding, has already implemented most of those measures, and supposedly even some of the bus drivers are armed. Won't know for sure either way until more people speak up and demand such changes from their school districts. That's the problem though, far too many people don't speak up and just hope that everything would work out on it's own, which is why our society is in the mess it's in.