School Terrorism, America's Al-Qaeda

In recent years we are seeing an upswing in the amount of school shootings on American soil. It is becoming the new popular culture for our younger generation to commit suicide and take classmates with them.

Our colleges are under a constant threat, and our schools are becoming a war zone not unlike the streets of Iraq or Afghanistan. Our children are not safe on college campuses or any campuses for that matter, we have seen a movement of school shootings since the Columbine massacre. We as parents send our children off to college and already have enough concerns with drugs, alcohol, sex and violence now to add to that list murder suicide.

What makes a person want to go to public places and shoot innocent people and then take their own life? The media is reporting the latest shooter was a very good student and seemingly a normal person. What makes a person normal? Just because he or she makes good grades and is somewhat popular, does this make them less likely to commit horrific crimes?

I believe we have a lot of ticking time bombs in our younger generation. We have lost touch with our youth. Commercialism has taken over, every person you see has at least three electronic devices strapped to them at once, like cell phones, ipods, and laptops. And no one is communicating face to face, we have lost the art of communication and interacting with actual human beings, as a result diminishing the bonds which create the needed and lasting relationships that enables us to cope with this thing called life.

Our children are alienating and segregating themselves with the electronic mother's and fathers of our world today. Coping skills are becoming harder and harder, and medication is becoming the norm for dealing with everyday problems. A little fellowship and interaction amongst people would cure a great many of societies ills.

Is it possible to identify this type of behavior before it leads to murder, and if so how can we implement this in our schools? What type of safeguards can we put into place that will protect students and faculty? Metal detectors in every building or perhaps metal detectors on the doors leading to each class room. This would be a very threatening environment but it could possibly save lives. More security in schools, trained primarily in combat and terrorist situations?
Are we to send our children to school packing a weapon for protection? Soon sending our children to school will be like sending your child to war, never knowing if he or she will make it through their college career without coming home with war injuries or not coming home at all.