Shelbyville Daily Union - Valorie Eversole's Blog

Campus Violence Worries Students and Parents

VALORIE EVERSOLE
Daily Union Staff Writer
My youngest child is attending college out of state - a little over 300 miles away.
Nothing is more nerve-wrecking than thinking something so atrocious as a mass shooting could happen on your child’s college campus. And there’s nothing you can do to prevent it whether it be as close as Lake Land College or a university hundreds of miles away.
The shooting at Northern Illinois University on Valentines Day hit too close to home, even though my daughter does not attend there. How can something so horrifying happen so close in an area not prone to such violence? Could this kind of tragedy ever happen to one of my children?
No parent should ever have to experience the senseless murder of innocents. College is a transition time for young people - between living under the care of Mom and Dad and totally being on their own. It is a time for them to discover themselves and their life’s callings.
The incidents of school violence has been escalating over the past 10-15 years at all levels - from bullying in grade schools to bomb threats and shootings in high schools. And each year seems to more devastating than the prior year. The past year has presented a dramatic rise in gun violence on college campuses where young people desire to make changes for society’s betterment. In many cases the gunman commits suicide as a result of his own despair over his own life.
Are our children being brainwashed into thinking that death is an answer to their anger? What are they observing in movies, video games, and television news? Are they being desensitized to society’s ills? Whatever happened to the moral compass that earlier generations were instilled with from their parents and religious upbringing?
Colleges, junior highs, and high schools are trying to find ways to keep their students safer by installing security cameras, limited access, and instant notification systems. Yet if someone is determined enough to do something dramatic, there isn’t much to stop them.
Our kids have enough stress on them with the rigors of school at whatever level. They shouldn’t have to be in fear for their lives in an environment that used to be deemed safe.
We have gone from a society where the worst offenses in school was gum chewing and spit wads to a point where students and teachers have to deal with threats and actions of violence. You never know who is going to go off the deep end.
Parents, please pay more attention to your children. Don’t ignore any signs of violence at even the youngest age. Teach them to respect life. Teach them how to deal with feelings of anger or revenge in a less than violent way. Pay attention to the things they are seeing that can warp their moral compass. Teach them that violence never solves anything. And teach them also by your own example.
Whether our children are in a school across town or across the country, we should constantly pray for their safety. I also believe the power of prayer can intercept the actions of a would-be killer.

March 04, 2008 03:05 pm

Too Much Technology Can Lead to Overload

How do you get ready in the mornings? Before going out the door, do you check your battery on your cell phone, check your email for last minute messages on your laptop as you gulp that last bit of coffee, and grab your iPod or MP3 player? Do you program your GPS system for those out-of-town trips or have your printed MapQuest directions ready? Are there any appointment conflicts or reminders that need your attention in your PDA? Do you feel out-of-touch with humanity?
We’ve become a nation dependent on technology - so much that we have become a nation of stressed out humans.
Technology provides us with many useful tools, but they need to be used in moderation. When we live by the technology, it takes control of our lives. Ask a teen to turn off his or her cell phone for an hour and you see a sense of panic cross his or her face. You might as well have slammed them into solitary confinement. The hands motion texting in the air. A hand covers the ear as it feels naked for the lack of a phone attached to it. (There are some adults who go through the same withdrawal signs.) Then when allowed to use the phone again, the teen quickly calls friends and says something like, “Did you try to call or text me in the past hour?! I’m sorry but I couldn’t use my phone and I was afraid I missed something important!”
Many people have given up their landlines and are relying solely on their cell phones. Just compare this year’s phone book with last year’s. There are fewer pages. The problem with using only cell phones is that those who do not have your number cannot reach you. Also a negative, cell phone users can never escape the insistent ringtone of the phone any time of the day or night.
Email and instant messaging. Are both are great for immediate communication, but unless you know all the “shorthand” you may have a hard time reading it. For business you spell everything out, but with friends spelling and grammar are cast aside. Just try reading over a teen’s shoulder. You’d swear they were chatting with some extraterrestrial being. The art of letter writing has gone by the wayside as it is easier to drop a quick note on email and not have to pay for a stamp or long distance phone call.
It’s hard to escape technology. Almost every business relies on computers to make work easier. There’s a wealth of information (and misinformation) that can be found online. The teaching profession is moving away from paper records to electronic records for everything from grades and attendance to school lunches. But going paperless is a bit scary, especially if your work is lost due to network failure.
All the gadgets and gizmos created to make the 21st century lifestyle easier can become overwhelming. With technology people can work from home, and not just from 9:00 to 5:00. People who begin to feel stressed need to take steps to wean themselves from their dependence on the technology. Simple actions such as limiting your personal computer time or turning off the cell phone for the night can readjust your senses to the people who are physically around you.
Technology can be a resourceful tool as long as long as it is still under control.

February 15, 2008 05:10 pm

Campus Violence Worries Students and Parents

Too Much Technology Can Lead to Overload

Popular business directory searches