Are you listening?

I felt it needed to go on a rant at the moment, so humor me please and read this.
I was watching this program on school shootings. It was so upsetting to see kids who resort to that type of violence simply for the sake of trying to get across a message that no one else would listen to. How closed off and oblivious do you have to be to not notice that type of cry for help or attention? Well, you don't have to be sheltered, simply narrow minded and stereotypical.
This isn't some blog talking about how labeling people is wrong. Prep, punk, goth, jock, whatever, they happen. Society is able to function in the way that it does based on the fact that we can relate and identify to different subjects. Lables is one way of doing that. A language is a system of lables. It would be idealistic to assume that we don't need them.
However, it would be immature to discriminate because of them. Selfishly alienating others may make you more acceptable in the eyes of someone else socially, but it's effects on the one being isolated are horrible. Not to mention its a hate crime, which can be prosecuted by law, although it never is until its too late. People hear discrimination, and automatically assume its based on race, thats so wrong. Any wrongful exclusion of another person is discrimination. Ignorance to the definition is no excuse for discriminating however. If its beating up the geeky kid who can't play sports, thats discrimination, if its harassing the girl with acne in the locker room, thats discrimination. Bullying and discrimination go hand in hand. Both are used to empower the person commiting the vile act, its sick.
We see this everyday in school. You probably see it in other places, what do you do? Do you help the person being victimized? Do you confront the person commiting the wrongful action? Do you pretend it didn't happen? Society is a singular noun, however its composed of ALL of us, making it our responsabilty.
What happens when we don't take responsability? Vicims make themselves be heard, they make us listen. Some do it by taking their own lives, or hurting themself. Others hurt other people. School shootings are disturbing and so saddening. I am in no way justifying what these kids did, but now their future is destroyed, they have this on their record. The ones who don't commit suicide might as well have, because now they get to rot away in jail. All of 'that' was preventable too, but no one paid attention, no one listened. You think from past mistakes like Columbine or the Bath School Disater, ect. we would have learned that our actions have consequences, and that YES, this kind of thing does happen.You always here on the news, the teachers or students say they are "shocked" something like this happened. "Shocked" they had such a violent student in there school. "shocked" that it happened in their town. Anyone who says they are "shocked" by this is basically saying "Im shocked we don't pay attention to students, and that we are not involved enough. Im shocked that we are totally oblivious to what goes on around us."
I don't understand this "shocked" term, at all. More, "in denial" is suiting. Nobody listens anymore, they talk and talk and talk, but it does nothing. Whats the use in talking, if you don't know what to talk about. "Violence is wrong" only goes so far.
"I wouldn't have said anything to them (Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold), I would have listened, thats the one thing nobody did"-Marilyn Manson, Bowling for Columbine interview.
Now, I didn't just pick that quote because of my insane marilyn manson obsession, its brilliant advice, I think we could all learn from. Society isn't just some pretty word used in political debates. YOU are society, and its up to everyone to contribute to it. Now its up to you: Are you "shocked" by this, or have you been listening?

Posted on January 16th, 2007 at 10:30pm

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