Stephen wrote:
> On Fri, 15 Feb 2008 11:51:11 -0500, Sabrina Kilian <"ykgp at vtSPAM.edu"> wrote:
> 
> [Snip for brevity]
> 
> To reply to your last point (mine) first. I think that you are right, gun laws
> won't help. It is too late for you, (not personally) there are too many guns in
> circulation and the belief that you need a firearm to defend yourself too
> ingrained. To quote a long dead poet who died in a fight. Why, this is Hell nor
> am I out of it.

I disagree with the observations, but not the quote.

The problem that I saw, first hand in the USA high school system, is
that there is often no hope. I don't work in a school, so I can't
observe how it's changed over time. But I did ask some others people for
their memories of school. There have always been cliques, but it seems
that kids have been getting more and more insular and stopped talking to
people not in their group. Whether the 5 year olds playing team sports,
or parents arranging strict play dates is to blame for this is another
discussion.

So kids grow up with much less of a safety net, and very few people to
talk to when things go wrong. Take a common occurrence, a fight within
one of these small groups of kids. One kid singled out, where do they go
and who can they turn to?

IMO, the problem isn't the guns or these kids either killing themselves
or killing others before they kill them self. It's that these situations
occur in the first place.

> As for depression and drugs; it would probably be better (IMO) if drugs were
> used as a last resort if at all. But then you would have to put more effort into
> helping people which would not be as profitable to the established money makers.

You haven't seen what counselors charge by the hour, have you? The drugs
are common because they are the cheap answer, cheap enough to be
available to the people who really should be getting counseling but
can't afford it.

Or worse, is convinced that anyone who gets counseling is already too
far gone to be helped.

> "Drugs" are both fashionable and a dirty word. The easy way out until you have
> to pay the final price and it looks like judgement day is getting closer.
> If it is of any interest to anyone other than myself. I have turned down two job
> opportunities to work across the pond because I don't want to put myself through
> the hassle of living the life I see over there. Now this is not to say that I
> haven't met many fine people from the land of the free, I have. Some of them
> here on this newsgroup, a lot at work, some as visitors to my country etc. but
> it seems like a society that is best experienced from a distance. 
> 
> Regards
> 	Stephen

Eh, it's quite fun here on a day to day basis. Lots of us don't even own
guns, we have pets we care about, and we don't eat babies. Often.

Besides that, I think there is still some hope. The violence is a
symptom, not the problem that needs to be solved.

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