Thanks for your help. Earlier in the week I was unsuccessfull connecting to Rowan using the VPN Client. I tried again today and I was successfull. I’m still a bit confused because I don’t know what I’m doing once I get there. I’ll try again tomorrow and see if I can learn a little bit more.

Steven

BW

I too felt compelled to read this argument and obviously I had strong feelings about the whole thing.

The sad thing is we can’t change what happened, we can only grow from it.

It is hard to say what we can do to change this crazy world. In my own way, I just try to be civil and treat everyone with respect. I like to think my small acts of kindness make the world a better place.

I also stay away from the violence I see on TV. I like to believe I live in a bubble of safety and world peace.

I just hope we can learn from these problems.

~Meg

I don’t know if that helps.

~Meg

It is upsetting that Miller states teachers won’t be able to help through teaching reading and writing, but all we can try and do is make a difference and leave a positive impact.

Lucinda

I felt compelled to read Miller’s “The Dark Night of the Soul.” Your comment was very eloquent, and I don’t know if I can add anything further except to give my own very personal reaction to this reading and the violence we see occurring in our society every day.
I was drawn to the last line of Miller’s piece (p. 6). He says: “Those who have never felt the inner urgency of such questions need read no further.” I had the same reaction after reading Lucinda’s “Why” on our blog earlier this week. I feel that there is a level of frustration in both of these pieces. They both left me with questions and concerns, but neither left me with any clear answers. I think the fact that both of these pieces left the writers having doubts and frustrations is a good sign.
I see violence and hatred every day when I read the newspapers or watch the television, but I try to isolate myself from it. I like to think that it doesn’t effect me and that these are things that happen to other people. Whenever an event like this happens it leaves me deeply troubled and wondering if I can make a difference in the world – if I can do something to stop violence, hatred, indifference, child abuse, racism, war, hunger, genocide that we see in our world every day.
Concerning your question as to whether schools are doing enough to protect students, I can only say that we have to do better. The teacher in the Virginia Tech massacre was deeply concerned about the writings of her student, but her complaints fell mainly on deaf ears. The clues in the Columbine massacre seemed even more obvious. On page 5 of Miller’s article, he talks about the variety of clues left by Harris and Klebold before their killing spree: “They relied on writing to post their scathing observations about their peers on Harris’s web site; they composed poems in their creative writing class which their teacher described as “dark and sad”; they created a video for a writing project in which they acted out their fantasy of moving through the school gunning down their tormentors.”
I think we see clues for tragedies in our world every day. Teachers and administrators don’t always do their best in stopping bullying in their schools. DYFUS doesn’t always do their best in protecting children in their care. Our own government doesn’t always do its best in response to a national disaster. Just picking up the Courier Post today I read that the mayor of South Harrison woke up to find the letters KKK spray-painted on a campaign sign on his front lawn, Wednesday morning. What can we do about all of this?

Steven

Thanks again for your help!

~Meg