Two students have been injured in northern Wisconsin after a person armed with a rifle opened fire at Antigo High School, officials say. The suspected gunman, [name withheld], who was immediately shot by a nearby police officer, has died, according to Langlade County Coroner Larry Shadick.('name not displayed' on this website)
Adolescent Angst
We'll be hearing a lot about [name withheld] in the days and weeks to come. He'll be described as "not popular", or even "a loner". He couldn't get a date to the prom. He was not a good student.The Gun Control crowd will rush to get "FIRST!" honors to ask "Where did he get the gun?" and "Why wasn't he diagnosed as mentally deficient" (pick your own favorite issue) and demand new levels of gun control.
The president will come on television and weep crocodile tears, while all the time feeling vindicated for his new Presidential Findings that "we have to do something" about Gun Violence..
Hillary and Bernie will vie to be "FIRST" to decry the rising levels of Gun Violence.
Because "never let a crisis go to waste".
But nobody will expect an answer as to why a kid will shoot up his prom.
It's not about "Gun Violence", so no new laws which 'they' might suggest will ever curb the trend. It's not about guns, it's about ... what's the word?
Oh, yeah.
Here's the word: Losers
Or to use more popular terms: "Self Worth" or "Self Esteem".
"In sociology and psychology, self-esteem reflects a person's overall subjective emotional evaluation of his or her own worth. It is a judgment of oneself as well as an attitude toward the self".
We will always have losers among us.
A small, but significant portion of any population will resent the fact that they have no pride, no reason to feel that they are worthwhile, and they will turn against the people closest to themselves (eg: in their school) out of no better reason than that they resent people who have what they don't have, and will never have: A Place.
They resent the fact that their peer group holds them in low-esteem. Even worse, they are convinced that the judgement of their 'peers' is correct;
"I'm worthless; everyone knows it, and I know it, too!"
Animals will avoid another animal that they intuitively know is 'sick'. They will cast them out.
People are just taller animals. WE know when someone in our community is a cast-out.
Hyenas will kill and eat a cast-out.
People are less kind; humans try to ignore their cast-outs, which doesn't improve the situation. The human cast-out feels more resentment because of his ostracism. They are 'in', but not 'a part of' their society.
With luck, they will find other 'cast-outs' and find some comfort in their isolation, because they're not the "only ones". They may be a minority, but they still have friends who are willing to commiserate with them in their shared ostracism.
In high school, children are especially cruel. Everyone finds himself in a limited number of social groups, such as "Elite", "Nerds" and "Greasers". A healthy (if not attractive) personality can find a social caste in which he can find a sense of community. If you're a "Greaser" (see: "The Fonze") you can even carve out a niche in which you are The Best Of The Least.
But if you consider yourself worthless, you have absolutely nothing to lose. You resent the social slights .. the 'snubs' and the snickers. This gives you an identifiable enemy; the people who laugh at you because you are so socially clumsy.
A target. Someone against whom you can avenge yourself for 18 years of insults and envy.
Then comes the gun, or the bomb, or the gallon of gasoline at a dance club.
Then you kill yourself, and you're finally happy because .. you sure showed them!
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