And AGAIN

[Terabith]

Active shooter in Atlanta, multiple people hit.  https://www.wsbtv.com/news/local/atlanta-police-investigating-active-shooter-incident-midtown/HFIIPRLDQNCVRLLVGRZCPXO6LE/

[mommyoffive]

Another day in America, nothing to see here.  It seems like everyday there is a mass shooting here.   I hate this.  I hate being worried and scared all the time.  I want this to stop.  I want to not have ever heard of mass shooting and especially a school shooting.

My heart goes out to all the people hurt and there today.  This should not be something that people in America should be dealing with.  

 

Texas’s Solution to School Shootings: Training 8-Year-Olds in “Battlefield Trauma Care” | Vanity Fair

 

This just isn't ok.  

[WildflowerMom]

My cousins work there.  Waiting to hear from them now. 

[Kassia]

@WildflowerMom hope you get some good news soon.  I'm so sorry.

[WildflowerMom]

They are ok!   Just messaged me! 

[Kassia]

Thanks for updating.  So glad they are okay.

[mommyoffive]

@WildflowerMom  I am so glad they are ok.  Sending prayers to them during this hard time.

[Dmmetler]

DH's company HQ is there 😞

[WildflowerMom]

My cousins are at another campus, so even better.  Same hospital, smaller campus.   But there are cops at their campus right now, so not sure why... Just precaution, I guess. 

[Murphy101]

Ugh. I can’t wait to visit South Korea where my biggest travel worry will be leaving my purse, phone and umbrella at a cafe and going back hours later to find out my umbrella was stolen.  My chances of getting shot at the cafe? Almost zero. 

[fraidycat]

3 hours ago, mommyoffive said:

Another day in America, nothing to see here.  It seems like everyday there is a mass shooting here.   I hate this.  I hate being worried and scared all the time.  I want this to stop.  I want to not have ever heard of mass shooting and especially a school shooting.

My heart goes out to all the people hurt and there today.  This should not be something that people in America should be dealing with.  

 

Texas’s Solution to School Shootings: Training 8-Year-Olds in “Battlefield Trauma Care” | Vanity Fair

 

This just isn't ok.  

Unfortunately, it's more than every day. This is number 180 or 181 for 2023 so far, I think? 

[TheReader]

You know where my mind went? As soon as I read "the suspect is still at large..." and saw his picture? 

"Dear God, please protect all the black young men in Atlanta who look like this young man, but aren't him....." 

Which is a whole other atrocity/symptom of our nation's illness in & of itself.   

[Dmmetler]

Dh apparently was on a video call when the announcement came out, the person in Atlanta running the meeting commented "oh, we're on lockdown, some guy has a gun" and went back to the meeting. Not sure I would have been that calm...

 

We'll actually be there next week-DH is going in for a few days since we need to move L  out of the dorm. 

[pinball]

21 hours ago, TheReader said:

You know where my mind went? As soon as I read "the suspect is still at large..." and saw his picture? 

"Dear God, please protect all the black young men in Atlanta who look like this young man, but aren't him....." 

Which is a whole other atrocity/symptom of our nation's illness in & of itself.   

Hmmm….my mind went to: please don’t let him kill anyone else, since he already has already killed and injured so many, and please keep the police safe as they try to capture him. 
 

He was taken into custody without anyone else being hurt.

[mommyoffive]

And again and again

Four people killed in Georgia after gunman opens fire at McDonald's (msn.com)

[Dmmetler]

It's scary. Like we need to drive to GA this coming week to move L out of the dorms, and while it's probably OK, it just feels dangerous. (And I'm already anxious about any interstate driving....). At home feels safer than away from home. 

[Dmmetler]

The number of panicked parents on the Agnes Scott parent forums is huge. 

[mommyoffive]

@Dmmetler This is just breaking my heart and pissing me off at the same time.  You and all the other parents should not be feeling this way in our country.

[Dmmetler]

It's frustrating and scary. 10th and Peachtree is the border of the GA Tech campus, and in many ways, all the Atlanta colleges almost form one large distributed campus with different divisions-not only do kids take classes at other campuses pretty often or do research with  teams that are comprised of multiple schools, but they all have friends on other campuses as well and socialize together quite a bit. Literally any of our kids could have been there that day.  A lot of the smaller concerts and arts venues are in Midtown. There's a lot of companies there as well, generally the big HQ buildings. Lots of pedestrian traffic. 

 

 

 

[Innisfree]

And again…

Short version, three people killed, plus the shooter; two officers wounded and hospitalized. This link shouldn’t have a paywall.

https://wapo.st/3o0rWZL

In other news today, a man brought a metal baseball bat to Representative Gerry Connally’s office today and, unable to reach Connolly, who was at an event elsewhere, assaulted two staffers. One was an intern who had just started today. They’re alive, but hospitalized. No paywall, again:

https://wapo.st/3M6gmV0

 

[Happy2BaMom]

12-year-old boy uses Assault Rifle to kill a fast food employee (who had told the dad not to pee in the parking lot).

Not sure how a good guy with a gun would have stopped this (shot the 12-year-old, I guess? hopefully before the 12-yr-old shot the employee? Is that a win? /s), but don't worry, we'll all carry on as before.

[mommyoffive]

2 hours ago, Happy2BaMom said:

12-year-old boy uses Assault Rifle to kill a fast food employee (who had told the dad not to pee in the parking lot).

Not sure how a good guy with a gun would have stopped this (shot the 12-year-old, I guess? hopefully before the 12-yr-old shot the employee? Is that a win? /s), but don't worry, we'll all carry on as before.

I just got done watching the news about the one yesterday in New Mexico and the video of the shooter.   And as I watched it of course I think the guns are a problem.  But with everyone of these mass shootings I just am baffled and disgusted on how people can do this.  What the heck is going through their head?  To just kill someone for being told not to pee in the parking lot?  To ruin your life for something that doesn't mean anything?   I think it is just breaking me that there are so many people out there that can take a life with no care or thought at all.  

[happi duck]

It is all so very gross and disturbing.  I realized that I no longer have the thought of "unbelievable".

Would these have been the people who pulled a switchblade on people back in the day?  Have we always had people with no regard for life or decency but now they brandish weapons that were designed and have the purpose of not being survivable?

[Innisfree]

1 minute ago, mommyoffive said:

What the heck is going through their head?  To just kill someone for being told not to pee in the parking lot?  To ruin your life for something that doesn't mean anything?

I’m baffled, too. I can understand, if not agree, when an older person who’s been watching Fox too long feels frightened by a situation that wouldn’t frighten others. But this is just senseless. I do hear some people verbalize things like “Somebody ought to shoot him” for random things that upset them, and when I call them on it, they say they don’t mean it literally. If a kid grows up hearing that, do they think it’s meant seriously? Probably immaturity and lack of thought or impulse control are involved. I don’t suppose the kid thought about what his action meant for the rest of his life. He may not have envisioned actually killing the man, either. I dunno, I’m sad and baffled.

[Innisfree]

4 minutes ago, happi duck said:

Would these have been the people who pulled a switchblade on people back in the day?  Have we always had people with no regard for life or decency but now they brandish weapons that were designed and have the purpose of not being survivable?

I do think that’s part of the mix. The weapons are so much more deadly.

[happi duck]

Did you see the video of the white woman trying to steal a rental bike from black teenage(?) boys?  She started falsely calling for help which imo is attempted murder.  She knew what she was doing and it was definitely a threat.

With the recent death of the accuser/murderer of Emmett Till it's hard not to see the similarities 

Edited May 16, 2023 by happi duck

[Laura Corin]

5 minutes ago, Innisfree said:

I do think that’s part of the mix. The weapons are so much more deadly.

Yes.  The UK doesn't lack knife crime.  But it takes a lot more effort and up-close intention to use a knife to kill someone than a gun.

https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/crimeandjustice/articles/homicideinenglandandwales/march2022#the-most-common-methods-of-killing

I have no doubt that we would have much higher murder (and suicide) statistics if guns were more available:

https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/murder-rate-by-country

https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/suicide-rate-by-country

[Idalou]

 

26 minutes ago, happi duck said:

Did you see the video of the white woman trying to steal a rental bike from black teenage(?) boys?  She started falsely calling for help which imo is attempted murder.  She knew what she was doing and it was definitely a threat.

With the recent death of the accuser/murderer of Emmett Till it's hard not to see the similarities 

My first thoughts on this

The white man asks the black man to reset the bike. Why should he? He was the one who unlocked it, not her

She refuses to get off when the black man talks to her, yet gets off it when the white man directly speaks to her

Hey, notice how this white lady can scream and fake cry and make a scene with people approaching around her, yet not a single person thinks to put her in a chokehold for 15 minutes until she is dead.

The black men are lucky an American hero didn't show up and shoot them

Edited May 16, 2023 by Idalou

[mommyoffive]

Welp there were a bunch of shootings over the weekend that barely made the news.

Mothers wanted to watch horrific footage of their children escaping the Robb Elementary massacre. Here’s why we showed them. And why they want others to see (msn.com)

This was just completely heartbreaking.  The pictures are just horrible.  It breaks everything inside of me to know that these poor little kids who are just babies saw this much horror in their lives.  The last picture,  is the worst.  I just can't even bring this into my reality that this is life in America in 2023.  

 

[TheReader]

29 minutes ago, mommyoffive said:

Welp there were a bunch of shootings over the weekend that barely made the news.

Mothers wanted to watch horrific footage of their children escaping the Robb Elementary massacre. Here’s why we showed them. And why they want others to see (msn.com)

This was just completely heartbreaking.  The pictures are just horrible.  It breaks everything inside of me to know that these poor little kids who are just babies saw this much horror in their lives.  The last picture,  is the worst.  I just can't even bring this into my reality that this is life in America in 2023.  

 

My DH keeps telling me to quit reading the news, because it's just shooting, shooting, shooting and the horror of it is just too  much.  We had our Cinco de Mayo party for his work crew and one of his co-workers had to skip b/c her son's school & the highschool adjacent were both under lockdown to an active shooter threat (thankfully it did not materialize and nothing happened, but she was still understandably shaken).  In that moment, he turned to me and said, "I guess you're right to be paying attention to this....it really *is* stressful....."    Yep. 

And I read the MSN article as well.....it's horrific. And my state is just.....the response is incomprehensible.  The pics of them using a school bus to transport injured kids, from the room where it happened......the thought of 77 minutes of lack of response to get medical aid to kids that needed it.....it's all together awful. 

[mommyoffive]

Mass shootings’ cascading impact - by Katelyn Jetelina (substack.com)

[TheReader]

18 minutes ago, mommyoffive said:

Mass shootings’ cascading impact - by Katelyn Jetelina (substack.com)

Thank you for that. It doesn't mention the effects on those who work in these places, where it hasn't *yet* happened, but may.....there's bound to also be a heightened level of anxiety, stress, etc. for the teachers, students, etc. who have to practice drills for if/when this happens at their school one day. I know for me, even just teaching at a 2x/week homeschool enrichment center, I walk in, evaluate the furniture layout, plan how to get the kids out, etc - it's in my mind every single time I go. (chances? unlikely, until it's not; risk to me if it *does* ever happen there? high, b/c my room is the first room you'd get to)

I shouldn't have to now how many chairs high the stack by the door needs to be, to successfully lock us in, ya know? But because this just.keeps.happening, I do. 

[mommyoffive]

1 minute ago, TheReader said:

Thank you for that. It doesn't mention the effects on those who work in these places, where it hasn't *yet* happened, but may.....there's bound to also be a heightened level of anxiety, stress, etc. for the teachers, students, etc. who have to practice drills for if/when this happens at their school one day. I know for me, even just teaching at a 2x/week homeschool enrichment center, I walk in, evaluate the furniture layout, plan how to get the kids out, etc - it's in my mind every single time I go. (chances? unlikely, until it's not; risk to me if it *does* ever happen there? high, b/c my room is the first room you'd get to)

I shouldn't have to now how many chairs high the stack by the door needs to be, to successfully lock us in, ya know? But because this just.keeps.happening, I do. 

It is so sad that you and I am sure lots of teachers have to think this way.   This shouldn't be on anyone's mind in our country.

[Innisfree]

1 hour ago, TheReader said:

Thank you for that. It doesn't mention the effects on those who work in these places, where it hasn't *yet* happened, but may.....there's bound to also be a heightened level of anxiety, stress, etc. for the teachers, students, etc. who have to practice drills for if/when this happens at their school one day. I know for me, even just teaching at a 2x/week homeschool enrichment center, I walk in, evaluate the furniture layout, plan how to get the kids out, etc - it's in my mind every single time I go. (chances? unlikely, until it's not; risk to me if it *does* ever happen there? high, b/c my room is the first room you'd get to)

I shouldn't have to now how many chairs high the stack by the door needs to be, to successfully lock us in, ya know? But because this just.keeps.happening, I do. 

All of this, yes. I have a kid who was planning on teaching, and has decided this winter that she’s just not willing to be in that environment. She knows that the risk is low, but the constant awareness and worry are inescapable. I’m relieved that she’s made that choice.

[TheReader]

2 minutes ago, Innisfree said:

All of this, yes. I have a kid who was planning on teaching, and has decided this winter that she’s just not willing to be in that environment. She knows that the risk is low, but the constant awareness and worry are inescapable. I’m relieved that she’s made that choice.

Big hugs to you; it makes me sad that all of this keeps people from teaching, but I completely understand. I can't imagine being in a public school, where it feels the risk is higher. I'm relieved for you that she chose not to. 

[Innisfree]

3 minutes ago, TheReader said:

 I can't imagine being in a public school, where it feels the risk is higher.

This is it exactly. She said that for her subject, she’d need to teach in a public school to have a reasonable income, but the risks do feel higher there. I’m sorry that people don’t feel safe teaching also. It’s not like it’s ever been an easy job, but it’s just insane that we expect our kids and their teachers to function in the current environment. I feel bad for being glad she won’t be there, but I still am glad she won’t.

[Faith-manor]

2 hours ago, mommyoffive said:

Mass shootings’ cascading impact - by Katelyn Jetelina (substack.com)

This is not being discussed enough. Locally, after the Oxford shooting (45 minute drive from our school district), kids began showing signs of significant fear of attending school. Teachers reported children throwing up in class from the sheer stress. The high school principal said students looked like kids in a horror film, jumping at every loud noise, cowering in the corner if two students began arguing, you name it. Parents reported having to get their children on anti-depressants in order for them to continue attending for the school year. Some of the high schoolers knew kids from Oxford, had relatives at the school, had played them in sports the previous year when they advanced towards the regionals and it hit those boys like a ton of bricks...students they had met, spectators in the stands, coaches, real living breathing people survived a mass shooting. It made them feel like there is a mass murderer around every corner. Fights erupted on and off campus between pro-gun students and gun control advocating students. Alcohol and drug abuse among high school students in this district is at an all time high. Well.no.wonder.

Statistics mean nothing when there are more mass shootings than days expired in the year, when police officers stand outside a school in large numbers and refuse to defend and attempt to save children. Add to it bomb threats, (19 so far this year in our tri-county area), and many of these kids feel like they are nothing more than walking targets. School represents a war zone. How can we expect them to learn anything, become mentally stable adults, be productive citizens? We can't. It is stupid to have any expectations at all. 

One of the students in the building at the time of the MSU shooting is from our area, a young person we know from 4H. Here is a direct quote that I can share because it was shared at a county town hall type meeting, "Just drug me. Make me a zombie. Whatever drugs will dull my memory and emotions so I can keep going to school and get my degree."

Are we winning yet? Is this the "America is the bestest ever" plan? And it blows my mind that ammosexuals are so obsessed with the extension of their egos, a thing, that they would rather have the nation's children drugged in order to survive the war zone the states have said they are obliged to attend for the majority of their childhood than give up some reasonable measure of "freedom" related to that thing. It is inhuman!

Our schools desperately need teachers and substitutes. The local district offered to give me a full time subbing position for high school biology and chemistry which would in two years make me eligible to get my full teaching license back. (I had let it lapse.) No. Just no. I am so at a loss, I do not know how to teach PTSD riddled classrooms of depression suffering children who need hugs and nurturing I cannot give, safety I can not provide. They don't need teachers. They need psychologists, and therapists, and for the collective leadership of this country to gets its head out of its ass, and the ammosexuals and their supporters to go POUND SAND!

I have emailed my state and federal politicians to tell them that I think at this point it is unconstitutional to have mandatory attendance laws when the state can no longer provide a reasonable approximation of a basic education and schools are so bizarrely unsafe. Something has to give. How can it even be constitutional to force children to do this? If parents no longer have to surrender their children to the slaughter, maybe, finally, something will be done about getting these assault weapons off the damn streets, and addressing education issues with a measure of common sense instead of banning books and AP classes.

[Dmmetler]

One of the Covenant parents has posted that her son is afraid to go anywhere at this point. The response was "you should just homeschool him this year"-and she pointed out that it's not just school, and at least at school, he's surrounded by people who understand WHY he's scared, because his classmates, teachers, and the entire building was there that day. But when he's scared to go to the grocery store, or to church, or to a park...most of the people there don't understand and get it. Taking him away from school (and now, summer) is also taking him away from the only support he has. It's a horrible, horrible situation. 

Tn has a mandatory retention law for kids who fail the ELA TCAP in 3rd grade, and I'm really wondering how many Nashville kids are going to fail just due to stress. 

[Grace Hopper]

41 minutes ago, Dmmetler said:

One of the Covenant parents has posted that her son is afraid to go anywhere at this point. The response was "you should just homeschool him this year"-and she pointed out that it's not just school, and at least at school, he's surrounded by people who understand WHY he's scared, because his classmates, teachers, and the entire building was there that day. But when he's scared to go to the grocery store, or to church, or to a park...most of the people there don't understand and get it. Taking him away from school (and now, summer) is also taking him away from the only support he has. It's a horrible, horrible situation. 

Tn has a mandatory retention law for kids who fail the ELA TCAP in 3rd grade, and I'm really wondering how many Nashville kids are going to fail just due to stress. 

Are those kids back to school together in the building where the murders took place? I definitely understand the power of community, to be bonded with those who shared the experience, but walking those halls every day… I wouldn’t want my kid to do that (and don’t believe I could do it myself). I hope they’ve been meeting in an alternate location. And the school is attached to the church building, isn’t it? 

[Idalou]

47 minutes ago, Grace Hopper said:

Are those kids back to school together in the building where the murders took place? I definitely understand the power of community, to be bonded with those who shared the experience, but walking those halls every day… I wouldn’t want my kid to do that (and don’t believe I could do it myself). I hope they’ve been meeting in an alternate location. And the school is attached to the church building, isn’t it? 

According to one of the parents in Twitter, they're in a temporary space, I think another church offered. I asked her if many of the parents are more active now on common sense gun legislation, given the political climate in TN, and she said unfortunately not as many as she hoped for, but that will not stop the others from trying. 

 

[Idalou]

Tomorrow is the anniversary of the Uvalde shooting. PBS Frontline is going to air a program about it on May 30

[lewelma]

8 hours ago, TheReader said:

Thank you for that. It doesn't mention the effects on those who work in these places, where it hasn't *yet* happened, but may.....there's bound to also be a heightened level of anxiety, stress, etc. for the teachers, students, etc. who have to practice drills for if/when this happens at their school one day. I know for me, even just teaching at a 2x/week homeschool enrichment center, I walk in, evaluate the furniture layout, plan how to get the kids out, etc - it's in my mind every single time I go. (chances? unlikely, until it's not; risk to me if it *does* ever happen there? high, b/c my room is the first room you'd get to)

I shouldn't have to now how many chairs high the stack by the door needs to be, to successfully lock us in, ya know? But because this just.keeps.happening, I do. 

My sister has a hammer and a towel by the window, because that is the escape exit. The school has evaluated the stats and it is safer for highschoolers to escape out the window and run like hell than to hide in the classroom.  So every year, my sister has to tell 5 classes of 9th graders that if there is a shooter, she will break the window, they will get outside, and that they have to run as fast as they can across the large field and the street to the firehouse. She then has to tell them, that once they are out of the building, she can no longer be responsible for them, and it is up to them to avoid being shot and to run like hell. She has said that it is an absolutely horrible and heartbreaking conversation to have every year.  She says '14 years old, they are babies.'

Edited May 23, 2023 by lewelma

[TheReader]

33 minutes ago, lewelma said:

My sister has a hammer and a towel by the window, because that is the escape exit. The school has evaluated the stats and it is safer for highschoolers to escape out the window and run like hell than to hide in the classroom.  So every year, my sister has to tell 5 classes of 9th graders that if there is a shooter, she will break the window, they will get outside, and that they have to run as fast as they can across the large field and the street to the firehouse. She then has to tell them, that once they are out of the building, she can no longer be responsible for them, and it is up to them to avoid being shot and to run like hell. She has said that it is an absolutely horrible and heartbreaking conversation to have every year.  She says '14 years old, they are babies.'

oh my word. 

I teach the little kids at our co-op - K, 1st, and 2nd. Fortunately, our window opens. I cannot imagine having to tell my students (if they were older) that once I break/open the window they are on their own; your poor sister. I will keep her in my prayers (I mean, along with the other teachers I already pray for). 

I rehearse in my head every day (even days I'm not at school) how to get my kiddos to safety, quietly. I do a LOT of things that are practice, that they don't realize are practice. Just in case. 

[mommyoffive]

15 hours ago, lewelma said:

My sister has a hammer and a towel by the window, because that is the escape exit. The school has evaluated the stats and it is safer for highschoolers to escape out the window and run like hell than to hide in the classroom.  So every year, my sister has to tell 5 classes of 9th graders that if there is a shooter, she will break the window, they will get outside, and that they have to run as fast as they can across the large field and the street to the firehouse. She then has to tell them, that once they are out of the building, she can no longer be responsible for them, and it is up to them to avoid being shot and to run like hell. She has said that it is an absolutely horrible and heartbreaking conversation to have every year.  She says '14 years old, they are babies.'

No 14 year old should have to hear that and have it weigh on them that it could happen.

[mommyoffive]

14 hours ago, TheReader said:

oh my word. 

I teach the little kids at our co-op - K, 1st, and 2nd. Fortunately, our window opens. I cannot imagine having to tell my students (if they were older) that once I break/open the window they are on their own; your poor sister. I will keep her in my prayers (I mean, along with the other teachers I already pray for). 

I rehearse in my head every day (even days I'm not at school) how to get my kiddos to safety, quietly. I do a LOT of things that are practice, that they don't realize are practice. Just in case. 

I am so sorry you have that weight on you, no teacher should.

[mommyoffive]

5-year-old children in Texas are being given Winnie the Pooh books that teach them how to survive a school shooting (msn.com)

[Faith-manor]

12 minutes ago, mommyoffive said:

5-year-old children in Texas are being given Winnie the Pooh books that teach them how to survive a school shooting (msn.com)

America is a Dumpster Fire. The end. When we have come to this, time to sell the parts to more responsible countries. Canada, will you please buy Michigan?

[mommyoffive]

3 minutes ago, Faith-manor said:

America is a Dumpster Fire. The end. When we have come to this, time to sell the parts to more responsible countries. Canada, will you please buy Michigan?

And Wisconsin!  I 10000000% agree with you.  I want out.

[Dmmetler]

There's also this School Safety Drills - Sesame Workshop. It's part of a whole set of resources to help kids handle community violence. Violence - Sesame Workshop

 

Mind you-the audience for Sesame Workshop is teachers and parents of kids age 1-6. I remember when it was controversial that Sesame Street actually told kids Mr. Hooper died and went through grieving with Big Bird....

 

 

[Corraleno]

Nine people shot, including 4 minors, on crowded FL boardwalk on Memorial Day