Comments on: Mom Admits Helping Son Build Arsenal
Bullied, Troubled Pa. Teen Was Building Grenades With Gunpowder Mom Bought, Planning School Attack, Prosecutors Say
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- You''''re confusing adults with children.
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Posted by VoidMaster at 08:42 PM : Sep 23, 2008
My analogy was geared toward the adults to make my opinion more understandable. But 14 year olds know how to be accepted just as an adult does. I have a 15 year old and she knows very well what other kids think and how to be accepted. She has a cousin who knows as well yet she takes the other side and says she doesn''t care what others think and if kids pick on her because she knows she''s different and she likes that. I don''t see her going out shooting people for it. - Reply to this comment
- I agree with you. People should be what they want to be. But then I don''''t think they should complain if they are being picked on.
Posted by curlzz
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There is a difference, a BIG difference between an adult being criticized by peers and a teenager being subjected to intimidation. - Reply to this comment
- This is not at all the bully''s fault. It''s the fat kid''s for not trying to make himself more acceptable...
Posted by curlzz
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Again... he is not obliged to make himself more acceptable to others. - Reply to this comment
- Now I''ve heard it all. The whole world has gone mad.
- Reply to this comment
- No one is obliged to be physically or visually appealing to another.
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Posted by VoidMaster at 08:37 PM : Sep 23, 2008
I agree with you. People should be what they want to be. But then I don''t think they should complain if they are being picked on. - Reply to this comment
- Let''''s take this from another perspective. If you are an overweight wife and your husband is picking on you and saying you are fat and is unattracted to you, what would the common reaction be do you suppose?
Posted by curlzz
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You''re confusing adults with children. - Reply to this comment
- ...But I think it takes some pretty loose screws to being with to do something so dramatic in retaliation that you would even THINK about bringing a gun to school and kill someone for it.
Posted by curlzz
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Think about it from the standpoint of the kid being bullied. There is no way you can actually know how intolerable the bullying was to the victim. - Reply to this comment
- An afterthought...
Let''s take this from another perspective. If you are an overweight wife and your husband is picking on you and saying you are fat and is unattracted to you, what would the common reaction be do you suppose? Buy a gun and kill him? No. You are probably going to hit the gym and make yourself look as good as you possibly can so that he loves you and wants to be with you.
That said, the kid being picked on knows what he can do to change and getting a gun is not a solution. This is not at all the bully''s fault. It''s the fat kid''s for not trying to make himself more acceptable (as I mentioned before). And the fact that his fat mother helped him get the gun is just amazing to me. I don''t even want to state my opinion on her as I might be here forever. - Reply to this comment
- It looks like moma is overweight as well as the kid. She also appears to be using a walker. I guess my tax dollars are supporting them too. If you are going to suck up my tax dollars then I would expect you to at least attempt to live a wholesome HEALTHY lifestyle. That includes a reasonable diet, exercise, community service and no drugs, alcohol or smoking. It''s my money and I want a say in where it goes and how it''s used. If you want to be overweight and unhealthy then support yourself. If you want to live off the taxpayers dollars give them something for their money!!!! (I know, I''m a dreamer.)
- Reply to this comment
- Bullies have been around forever.
Posted by curlzz
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So have rats. But people still kill them. - Reply to this comment
- Kids know they may get picked on so they need to work harder to be accepted by their peers. Otherwise....they WILL get picked on.
Posted by curlzz
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No one is obliged to be physically or visually appealing to another. - Reply to this comment
- Yes, the innocent bystanders are definitely an issue. However, one could conclude that their blood is on the bully''s hands as well. After all, the bullying is often given without invitation. So the bully asks for the retaliation and he/she creates a dangerous environment for the innocent bystanders. Yet another very good reason not to be a bully.
- Reply to this comment
- Bullies have been around forever. In every school around the world, there are bullies. It''s sad for those being picked on but I think it takes some pretty loose screws to being with to do something so dramatic in retaliation that you would even THINK about bringing a gun to school and kill someone for it.
Being fat is a choice, yes. If you are old enough to feel like you need to shoot someone, you are old enough to go on a diet. Being socially unacceptable in appearance is a choice. Kids know they may get picked on so they need to work harder to be accepted by their peers. Otherwise....they WILL get picked on. It''s life whether it''s right or wrong. - Reply to this comment
- A question, mjm117: How do you propose that this boy should have dealt with the bullying? What is your suggestion?
I must qualify the question with one fiat. Losing weight is not a valid reply. First, there is not evidence that this alone would have stopped the bullying. Second -- and yet again -- healthy or not, being fat is/was his right to choose. - Reply to this comment
- Bullies are no better then the kids who shoot them. PERIOD. In fact, in my opinion the kids who reacts with a gun is more sick then the bully.
Posted by mjm117
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More accurately, the kid who responds with a gun is sick BECAUSE of the bully. Also, before you demand accountability from an adolescent, consider his immaturity. Consider that he was placed (not of his own doing) into an intolerable environment and most likely had not "proper" recourse with which to stop the attacks on him. So he applied himself in the only way (his underdeveloped mind) knew how. He planned to kill the aggressors. - Reply to this comment
- But do not fault the child for the wrong actions of others.
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Posted by VoidMaster at 08:09 PM : Sep 23, 2008
Of course it doesn''t give the bullies an excuse, I agree. But the world is an ugly place filled with bullies. Some could easily argue that America is a bully... - Reply to this comment
- If not, then I''''d say the bullies chose to reach into a hot furnace. The smell of burning flesh is somewhat unappealing. But it''''s what you get when you touch something that''''s very hot. I guess they don''''t believe the surface is hot. Well, now they know. Very interesting.
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Posted by omded at 08:04 PM : Sep 23, 2008
Easy to say until innocent people get killed by stray bullets. People need to be responsible for their own actions. Whether they are a bullies or kids who kill bullies, they need to be responsible for their actions.
Bullies are no better then the kids who shoot them. PERIOD. In fact, in my opinion the kids who reacts with a gun is more sick then the bully. - Reply to this comment
- Is it the right of parents to feed their kids *** FOOD and make them obese? I find it apauling when parents do that
Posted by mjm117
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So do I. But the kid is not at fault and should not be subjected to bullying because of it. Still, even if the kid DOES choose to be fat... that choice is his right. It is still not the right of another to bully him.
Prosecute the mother for child abuse if you can prove she knowingly stuffed the boy''s face with too much unhealthy food. But do not fault the child for the wrong actions of others. - Reply to this comment
- Usually it is the parent of the bully that is the cause of his being a bully. It normally stems from the parent pushing the kid into something the kid does not want to do. In some extreme cases, an overly aggressive parent will insist that his child express that same over-aggressiveness.
Many in American society treat competitiveness and aggression as essential life-skills. They are not and in fact, only because they are perpetuated are they even viewable as "necessary." - Reply to this comment
- Choosing to be fat is not a good choice. But it is the right of anyone so inclined. Choosing to be a bully is not a right. Being a bully is a crime. Being fat is not.
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Posted by VoidMaster at 07:51 PM : Sep 23, 2008
Is it the right of parents to feed their kids *** FOOD and make them obese? I find it apauling when parents do that - Reply to this comment
