I wrote a little "letter to the editor" regarding a radio show which
attempts to analyze the problems of teens and their developing brains.
Note the URL of the recent CNN article. I've also started a "nerd
resources" page on SCIENCE HOBBYIST. Spread these around if you wish.
School administrators might be a good target.
Voices from the Hell Mouth: teens blame the Columbine tragedy on
the same forces that cause teen suicide: veral and physical abuse which
is ignored/supported by the public schooling system http://slashdot.org/articles/99/04/25/1438249.shtml (1.6 megs!)
If you wish, feel free to use the following "letter to the editor" as you
see fit. (I'm forwarding this letter to a couple of other places as
well.)
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To the WEEKDAY panel on teenage brain development:
I have a question regarding "nature vs. nurture", but first I have some
comments.
I must remind the group that we are not discussing "those teens." We are
discussing ourselves. I myself have very clear memories of my own
experiences in high school. I'm sure that everyone here does also. When
we describe the "problems" that are presented by "those teens", then we
are blinding ourselves to the fact that *we* are those teens ourselves,
and we should not adopt a stance of superior-sounding hypocracy while
pathologizing "those teens" who are such a problem. Why not discuss
ourselves and our own experiences regarding our own "developing brains" as
we went through school? It would be a far more honest and humble
approach.
Second, I believe that I have a good idea of what causes teenage problems.
High school was living hell for me. My self-image was entirely destroyed
by the constant ridicule. My only respite was in the computer room and
video studio, and also on summer vacation where for a brief time I again
could see myself as a powerful and normal person, before being forced back
into the concentration camp where I magically was converted once again
into "damaged goods." The only thing I didn't know at the time was that a
very significant portion of other students were in exactly the same
predicament as I. Had I know it, I think it would have helped a lot.
However, knowledge of the size of the problem was (and is) specifically
covered up by nearly all school administrators, and by former teens who
grow up to become adults who deny that they ever were damaged children
trapped in the in highschool nightmare.
My conclusion is that public schools simply are "living hell" in fact.
The reason we don't fix them is that we carefully maintain conscensual
blindness to the problem. It is Denial on a global scale.
Third: the Littleton/Columbine tragedy. Why would children murder others?
I'll tell you why. While in high school I frequently entertained
vengeance fantasies. I was a fairly normal person, and not deranged in
any way as far as I know. Yet I wanted to torture my tormentors slowly to
death. I thought in those terms for a simple reason: because the
situation really was that bad.
At present we sometimes discuss learnedly the "problem" of teen suicide.
Why are "those teens" killing themselves left and right. Hmmmmmm. Maybe
they are in the same situation that I once was, but they unfortunately had
to deal with even more ridicule/bullying that I did.
Let me make a prediction. Columbine/Littleton has breached the barrier,
and teens now realize that, when they are about to kill themselves, they
can take their tormentors with them. Back in high school, if I had
decided to kill myself by blowing up the school, then I wouldn't have
messed around with subconscious "crys for help." I was well aware that
REAL crys for help are entirely ignored, and always had been. And back
then I was already extremely competent in home-built technology. If I had
reached the end of my rope back then, and had decided to kill myself and
erase my highschool, then for awhile I would have once again had a reason
for living. I would have performed proper testing of my creations in
advance. There would have been redundant systems in place. There would
have been no survivors at all.
My prediction: an intelligent and competent student will be driven to
suicide, but this time they won't make subconsciously-motivated mistakes,
and they won't indulge in foolish egotistic posturing with handguns, and
their simple little fuel-air explosives will kill every single person in
the school building.
To prevent this from occuring, we need to breach the collective denial in
a very big way, and we need do it very VERY quickly. If we do not, then
the next "event" will breach it for us, and we won't be able to lie to
ourselves and blame it on "violent video games" as we did with the recent
Littleton/Columbine high school tragedies.
Fuel-air explosives were found at Columbine. They failed to function.
Doesn't anyone understand what this means?!!!! Are we that stupid they we
protect our own asses rather than confronting that which is about to
occur?!!!
Fuel-air explosives are equivalent to small tactical nukes. A smart child
can build one quite easily. We should feel fear: profound fear which
cannot be covered by the usual amount of denial. This would be a healthy
response to the situation. Denial is the worst possible response at
present. No, wrong, the worst possible response would be to blame the
victims, and to attempt to keep "bomb plans" out of the hands of suicidal
students. The problem is not "bomb plans," the problem is school
administrators who CREATE suicidal students by their actions, and who
cover up this fact.
Sorry that I didn't get a chance to ask the group my question on the
Monday WEEKDAY show:
What is the difference in teen suicide rate between public schools and
homeschooled students?
I suspect that the answer will be very telling.
PS
Just to show that I'm not a kook, please realize that I'm age 41, a
professional electrical/software engineer, site developer of SCIENCE
HOBBYIST website, home owner, married, with one child... and with clear
and lasting memories about what American public high schools really are
like.
If you wish to use my above "letter", then remove my employer's sig from
the bottom of this message. I include it only for effect, and Microscan
Systems has nothing whatsoever to do with this.
((((((((((((((((((( ( ( ( ( (O) ) ) ) ) )))))))))))))))))))
William Beaty bbeaty@microscan.com
Software Engineer http://www.microscan.com
Microscan Inc. 425-226-5700 x1135
Renton, WA