Last week was a perfect example of people who would have benefited from my wish:
In Texas, a 15 year old kid brought a pellet gun to school and assaulted another student. According to this New York Times brief, he not only didn't tell anyone it wasn't a "real" gun, but he also pointed it at police officers on the scene. After not complying with the police officers' multiple demands to drop the gun, he was shot twice and killed.
There's a big fuss about whether or not the police needed to kill him. The way I see it, the police had two choices: Lose sleep over the death of one punk, or lose sleep over not stopping the punk who killed a bunch of his classmates.
Anyway, I thought this was a good opportunity to play "spot the difference" between schools in Taiwan and schools in America.
In 2010 in the US, a 7 year old boy was expelled for 1 year because he had a "clear plastic, spring-action toy gun" in his backpack, even though he never took it out.
Now this year, that Texas middle school student was killed as a result of bringing a toy gun to school.
How does that compare with Taiwan? Well, check out these 6th grade yearbook photos and see for yourself:
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| The kid in red is destined to never be taken serious. The others probably won't have that problem. |
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| Take a close look at the baseball bat gang in the smaller picture. |
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| How pissed was the kid who had to hold Patrick Star? |
To make an obvious observation, Taiwan's schools are slightly more lax on bringing toy guns to school.
The way that kids here "play" with "guns" is really appalling. Even though I was raised on Duck Hunt and was once arrested for "unlawful possession of a weapon upon school grounds," in my classroom, there is a zero-tolerance "no guns" policy. This includes manufactured toy guns, folded paper guns, handguns, and if my students insist on making guns out of the toys we have in the classroom, they can only "fire" kisses or bubbles.
I have this strange idea in my head that I should be teaching my kids to fear weapons and violence, rather than condone them spraying their classmates with invisible AK-47 rounds. Maybe if more people in America had this idea, we'd A.) have less kids with toy guns, and B.) have less dead kids.
8 comments:
informative blog, keep up posting such articles.
Toronto Airport Taxi
"I have this strange idea in my head that I should be teaching my kids to fear weapons and violence..."
Weapons are a class of tools. If anything ought to be taught here it is better discrimination among the kinds of people who wield these tools. It's not weapons which are to be feared, but the wrong sort of people bearing them. Look here.
@Michael Fagan
Please elaborate on all points. What does that mean that "Weapons are a class of tools"? M16s should be available at the hardware store next to the flat-head screwdrivers?
I see where you are going with the "Guns don't kill people. People kill people," but how do you teach "discrimination among the kinds of people who wield these tools"? That seems like a pretty objective decision to make.
I don't know why you don't want children to fear something thats sole purpose is to kill. You'd rather have 8 million people in Taiwan own killing "tools", and the rest of us have the task of worrying about the "wrong sort of people."
What does that mean that "Weapons are a class of tools"?"
You know perfectly well what it means...
"I see where you are going with the "Guns don't kill people. People kill people,"
Trying to be "objective" in reading body language or a situation is likely to be a dangerous waste of valuable time.
Unless of course you have an intellect powerful enough to question whether M16s should hang on the shelf next to screw drivers. In which case, by all means, take your time.
i don't think so that the children should know how to control and handle guns
Toronto Airport Transportation
Michael Fagan, I'm still lost on the part where kids shouldn't fear guns. If a kid who has been playing first person shooter video games for 5 hours a day finds a gun at home, or at a friends home, I think he'd be likely to play with it.
On the other hand, if he didn't play violent video games and was taught to fear guns, maybe he'd be more likely to treat it like something with a poison label and avoid accidental injury/death.
I'm also still missing your point on the "tools" comment. I understand that weapons are tools (used to harm things), but what does its classification have to do with anything?
"I'm still lost on the part where kids shouldn't fear guns."
In the case of young children, guns should obviously be kept well out of their way. In the case of older children (e.g. younger teenagers), some parents may want to introduce them to guns rationally such that they understand guns with a respect for the dangers of handling and mishandling them that does not spill over into abject, mindless fear.
"If a kid who has been playing first person shooter video games for 5 hours a day finds a gun at home, or at a friends home, I think he'd be likely to play with it."
I think he wouldn't. Unless he was an f-ing idiot - which, it must be admitted, is always a possibility.
"I'm also still missing your point on the "tools" comment. I understand that weapons are tools (used to harm things), but what does its classification have to do with anything?"
It has to do with not regarding them with mindless fear. People who own guns are not as dependent on the State for protection as people who do not own guns.
Do you really think that this kind of pics should be uploaded?
E-Clinical
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