what happened to going postal?

in the last week there have been three fatal school shootings in three states. in two, older men took female students hostage before shooting. in a third, a student angry after receiving a reprimand shot his principal. in vegas today an armed teen was seen roaming about so two schools were put on lockdown.

i know violence in schools is not new. i also know that this most recent spate of post-columbine violence (although there were 10 major school incidents between 1996 and columbine) is receiving far wider media attention because most of the victims have been, as far as i know, white. it's accepted that violence in predominantly black or latino schools goes unreported or chalked up to "gang violence" while the shootings in places like the amish school today feeds into white america's jon-benet-hey-whitey-it-can-happen-to-you paranoia. lacey and natalee holloway and jon benet show that america, or at least america's news, focuses on the tragedy of the prom queen or the adorable baton twirler rather than the plight of the under-resourced. i will save that, though, for another day.

i'm not going to say schools should be safer than other places. no. wait. yes i am. if kids (and their teachers) don't feel safe at school, a place that for many kids provides the main source of stability and continuity in their lives, where are they supposed to feel safe? i have often talked about wanting to blow the whole system up and start over. but that's the system, not the schools. leave the schools alone people. if you are suicidal, get help. if you are not going to get help, must you take a bunch of teenagers with you?

i'm starting to feel like the only news about schools is a female teacher boffing one of her 8th grade students (which i will also save for another day) or some disgruntled pervert going onto myspace and picking his targets. pardon my french, but this whole new paradigm of shoot up or sex up your local school is bullshit.