I found this article to be extremely interesting. Miller had so many things to say and I want to point them out. He talks about the tragedy of Columbine and poses the question,
What legal or educational response could be equal to the challenge of controlling the behavior of so many students from such varied backgrounds?
Looking at all the cases Miller mentioned, plus the Virginia Tech incident, it is obvious that each case and each student is different. The similarity though is the fact that in every case there seemed to be OBVIOUS clues to how demented these students were. The poetry, the websites, the writing some students turned in for classes, the histories of mental disturbances. Every time this happens, it seems like a red flag should have been thrown long before the incident occurred but NO ONE noticed. To me, the educational response should be that teachers, administrators, and all faculty in general in a school should report anything unusual about a student right away. Why do we wait until Virginia Tech happens to say, wow that kid WAS disturbed. His writing WAS demented. He DID have mental problems. They knew all this and yet they did NOTHING.
Now in the one teacher’s defense, she did report that Virginia Tech student’s writing, but nothing was done past that.
Going back to Miller, he adds a journal entry from one Eric Harris, one of the Columbine shooters. To view the quote, go here and go down to the second page on the right. In it, Harris talks about how no one but him and the other student should be blamed. He says the school administration is doing a good job and he doesn’t want anything to change. But my question is, are schools really doing that good of a job or protecting students?
I mean look at what happened this week at Rowan. Even with extra security on campus for the homecoming events, we still lost one of fellow students in a brutal mugging.
Later on, Miller states:
If you’re in the business of teachings others how to read and write with care, there’s no escaping the sense that your labor is increasingly irrelevant.
As a Elementary Ed and Writing Arts major, this is a scary thought. I am going to school for just that reason. So is my job going to be a waste of time? Or is Miller just pointing out the fact that reading and writing will not change the psychotic students of the world?
This is a big problem we have to face. I will leave you with the question that Miller posed at the end of his article. He leaves us to wonder:
Is there any way to justify or explain a life spent working with – and teaching others to work with – texts?
~Meg
Meg,
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
I found this article interesting as well. I guess I can see both sides of Miller and Schroeder (who was mentioned throughout the piece). I think kids are influence by the negative things around them through the internet, TV, and video games; but as Miller states, he does not feel that these things can change a child to want to commit a crime—if they are going to commit a crime, they will, and I see his point too. I guess it is hard to say. Couldn’t there be a child that was influenced by things they had seen on the internet or in a movie?? And couldn’t there be a child who never watched TV or did not have the internet who commits the same crime and the child who had access to these sources???
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.
Steven,
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
The style of writing is quite familiar to me. Did you write guest posts for other blogs?
I am very happy I found your website on yahoo. Thank you for the sensible critique. Me and my brother were just preparing to do some research about this. I am happy to see such trusted information being shared freely out there.
Best Regards,
Alger from Kansas City city