Knoxville Deals with Recent School Shooting

After the shooting death of 15 year old Ryan McDonald at Knoxville's Central High, our little city has been dealing with the tragedy in its usual tenacious way. With a comparatively smaller population of around 182,337 within the city limits (Knox County at an estimated 423,874 with just under .75 million metro), it is hard to find someone here who does not know someone who is somehow connected this school has graduated some rather distinguished people, such as baseball greats Bubba Trammel and Todd Helton, Actor Brad Renfro, and Country guitar legend Roy Acuff.

Although I went to Halls High as a teenager, most of my friends went to Central, and one of them became my wife (class of 89). Although located in the relatively peaceful neighborhood of Fountain City, students from some rougher areas of the city (such as Inskip and Christenberry Heights) also attend. Also, the Knox County School Board has recently decided to bus kids from the inner city to Central, Powell, and other more affluent schools.

The shooter has been identified as 15 year old Jamal Siler, a kid with a fractured family history and a 22 year old sister, Ciara, who is a fugitive from justice, wanted for the murder of an East Knoxville woman. Initailly, the gossip around town was that the boy was a Hispanic here illegally, but that worthless bit of innuendo has been discredited.

I have talked to several people who have kids enrolled at Central, and they all say Ryan was afflicted with Alopecia, a health disorder that causes premature baldness. He had been taunted about this condition quite regularly in school, but it doesn't seem to be a factor in why Jamar Siler killed him. Even their neighbors told police and reporters that the two seemed "cool with each other".

Friday morning, Central High was open for business as usual. There are about 1,400 kids enrolled there, but only about one third of the student body showed up for classes. The school system has provided grief counselors and psychiatrists to help any student who is still shook up to cope better.

Now, for the local reactions: of course, there are the gun-grabbers who are exploiting this tragedy as another in their lengthy list of excuses to take guns away from the law-abiding. And then there are the ones who stand against the busing program, claiming this is exactly where such school board policies lead to. Mostly, however, the majority of the parents and citizens are concerned largely about the secrecy surrounding the case, as if the KPD and local politicians (especially school board members) have something to hide.

It is in my experience that KPD does not release details about a capital crime early for fear of weakening any case the DA is building against the suspect. This can be a very wise move on their part, as demonstrated by the extremely competent way they handled the gruesome murder and rape of both Channon Christian and Jennifer Newsom. It was precisely because of their careful handling of the evidence and witness testimony that we were able to see some quick justice for these two kids.

My advice to all these rightfully-worried parents is to be patient. I understand wholeheartedly your concern and anxiety. However, the smart thing to do is to forgo a little peace of mind right now in favor of having more peace of mind later, knowing that Jamar Siler will pay for his immature, hot-headed mistake, if the police can just handle this without any further sensationalism.

Other than that, almost everyone in my 'scruffy little city' is bouncing back from this horrible event. That is the nature of Southerners in general, East Tenneseans in particular, and specifically Knoxvillians. Sure, we take this time to mourn the tragic loss of Ryan McDonald, and give our thoughts and prayers to his friends and family, but in the meantime, we are picking up the pieces and moving ever forward to provide for our loved ones and neighbors.

Guys, we must resist at all costs our very human tendency to wallow in sorrow and grief. The purpose of healing is not to dwell on such a tragedy, but rather to be able to soon resume our sense of normalcy. Likewise, we must fight any knee-jerk reactions and over-emotionalization of this event. Passing stricter gun laws won't help (how about actually enforcing the ones already on the books!), and neither will too much touchy-feely psychobabble (which I think serves no better purpose than to keep one in a perpetual state of emotional immaturity).

Most of all, though, we must teach kids to handle confrontations with maturity and self-control. How, you ask??? BY HANDLING THINGS LIKE GROWNUPS OURSELVES!!!!!!!!!

Yes, when children see Mommy flipping out and crying into her apron because she just bounced a check, or hear daddy screaming at your uncle Clem "I'M GONNA KILL YOU, &@THER#%CKER!" because he won't float him a loan until payday, then where the hell do y'all think they learn this behavior?

Seriously, I see way too many grown adults throw a tantrum like spoiled children whenever life tosses them even the littlest, softest curveball. No wonder kids handle things with such melodramatic gravity and finality anymore! And, NO, it isn't the gun's fault, either! This inanimate object did not jump first into this kid's backpack and later into his hand, and then aim itself at Ryan and subsequently pull its own trigger, so don't even start with that nonsense! Plus, he could have did Ryan in with a plethora of other weapons (even a ball-point pen, for that matter!)

You might think your kids don't listen, and you may be right, but they are watching every move you make. Think about that the next time some kid decides to murder somebody, be it with a gun, bat, rope, knife, poison, or even a broken guitar string. If our children aren't taught by OUR EXAMPLE how to control their emotions (especially anger), then their already-screwed-up hormonal state can compound such childish reactions to easily resolvable issues in a very final, very irreversible way.