Wednesday, March 23, 2005
Weise - The Truth Society Doesn't Want to Face - updated March 24
You want to know what I think? There are thousands of kids that are being victimized like Weise, that are profoundly hurt on a daily basis by adults and peers, and no one cares about them in the least.
In the past, society was so comfortable in just letting these kids be tortured alone or be driven to suicide. Now, since a few of them are turning their anger against other kids (and adults), the kind of people that others care about, education folks are starting to take action to help the distressed kid before he commits a crime against others. In a way that society hates to face, these shooting rampage kids are the ones putting pressure on society to be less brutal to so many very abandoned kids. What is sad is that society would have never taken some of these preventive actions and measures if it hadn't been pressured by the abandoned kids committing crimes against others.
and
"the loner who was teased by other pupils," - no friends? no support? no constructive interactions? the type of kid for whom school is hell? how mean were other kids (and adults) to Weise?
"Weise's father committed suicide about four years ago, and his mother is in a nursing home after suffering a brain injury in an auto accident." why the suicide? how long has he not had a mother? a history of a dysfunctional, violent home? was there abuse in this kid's life?
I'm just going out on a limb here, but one possible frame is a kid who was enormously hurt; powerless against being continuously hurt; builds up an immense reservoir of anger and frustration; one day, he expresses it with more than Mason songs and neonazis slogans.
There could be other scenarios too. The Mason songs and the neonazi stuff are things that express so much anger. What was Weise so angry about? Was he seeking a sense of power in a scenario where he felt/was powerless?
Update:
(I have to add I didn't read more than 3-4 articles regarding this case).
Jema at Number 2 Pencil asks?
Is there something ironic about a shooter wearing a bulletproof vest, then shooting himself? Seems a bit strange to me.
the Independent reported:
The position of the bullet(s) that killed Weise would tell us a lot about how true is this official version of events. Was Weise killed by many bullets or just one? Was the bullet in the middle of his forehead or on the side? Bullet to his heart? Stomach?
No one seemed to care about this boy while he was alive, apparently nothing has changed now.
update March 24-2005:
A good post on this case by Extension 54: " Feeling Minnesota?"
One of the reasons I am put off to read more news about a case like this is the parasitical way the media vultures descend on such tragedies just makes me sick.
Then politicians and society seem to love to turn it into a huge post-tragedy circus, full of sacharine speeches, "blame anyone else but me/us" theories, and neither last, nor least, we have the "bring in the grief counselors" act. The latter I saw as a blog post title at "Kangaroo Court" that reflects this criticism too.
.
In the past, society was so comfortable in just letting these kids be tortured alone or be driven to suicide. Now, since a few of them are turning their anger against other kids (and adults), the kind of people that others care about, education folks are starting to take action to help the distressed kid before he commits a crime against others. In a way that society hates to face, these shooting rampage kids are the ones putting pressure on society to be less brutal to so many very abandoned kids. What is sad is that society would have never taken some of these preventive actions and measures if it hadn't been pressured by the abandoned kids committing crimes against others.
Indeed, the reports that have emerged contain the same almost cliched "clues" associated with previous school shootings - the loner who was teased by other pupils, the dark trench coat, the love of the music of Marilyn Manson, the apparent fascination with Nazism and Adolf Hitler, the sense of utter disconnection.
and
At the time of the shooting, Weise had been barred from the 350-student high school for an unspecified violation. As part of the school's Homebound program, Weise was being tutored at home by a traveling teacher. When he had attended the school, Weise was taunted regularly, students said. Weise's father committed suicide about four years ago, and his mother is in a nursing home after suffering a brain injury in an auto accident.
"the loner who was teased by other pupils," - no friends? no support? no constructive interactions? the type of kid for whom school is hell? how mean were other kids (and adults) to Weise?
"Weise's father committed suicide about four years ago, and his mother is in a nursing home after suffering a brain injury in an auto accident." why the suicide? how long has he not had a mother? a history of a dysfunctional, violent home? was there abuse in this kid's life?
I'm just going out on a limb here, but one possible frame is a kid who was enormously hurt; powerless against being continuously hurt; builds up an immense reservoir of anger and frustration; one day, he expresses it with more than Mason songs and neonazis slogans.
There could be other scenarios too. The Mason songs and the neonazi stuff are things that express so much anger. What was Weise so angry about? Was he seeking a sense of power in a scenario where he felt/was powerless?
Update:
(I have to add I didn't read more than 3-4 articles regarding this case).
Jema at Number 2 Pencil asks?
Is there something ironic about a shooter wearing a bulletproof vest, then shooting himself? Seems a bit strange to me.
the Independent reported:
Officials said, by that stage, local police officers had arrived at the school and became involved in a gunfight with Weise in one of the hallways. The teenage gunman then retreated to the classroom where he had killed his victims. It was there that he was later found dead. An FBI spokesman, Paul McCabe, said a preliminary investigation showed that Weise had killed himself.
The position of the bullet(s) that killed Weise would tell us a lot about how true is this official version of events. Was Weise killed by many bullets or just one? Was the bullet in the middle of his forehead or on the side? Bullet to his heart? Stomach?
No one seemed to care about this boy while he was alive, apparently nothing has changed now.
update March 24-2005:
A good post on this case by Extension 54: " Feeling Minnesota?"
This is not TV, videogames, comic books, music, the internet, movies, or even (I hate to admit) our lax Minnesota gun laws that allow any idiot to conceal and carry. This is not goth. This is not even (again, I hate to admit) neo-Nazi.
It IS all of the above causing us to be numb, desensitized. It is public schools of ignorance. It is no child left behind. It is our culture of cruelty. It is mental health for profit.
[...]
It is about a boy who killed 9 people, then himself. Who fantasized about it for a long time. Who thought a lot about God and the Devil and racial purity and hatred. Who hated himself, I think.
[...]
The papers shall dine upon this for a while like a fine dessert. It's gotten our minds off of the tsunami relief effort, at least. "The what, now?" Good... very good... that's right....... Just sit back, watch the pretty colors, and come up to Minnesota, where it's always colder than Florida.
[more...]
One of the reasons I am put off to read more news about a case like this is the parasitical way the media vultures descend on such tragedies just makes me sick.
Then politicians and society seem to love to turn it into a huge post-tragedy circus, full of sacharine speeches, "blame anyone else but me/us" theories, and neither last, nor least, we have the "bring in the grief counselors" act. The latter I saw as a blog post title at "Kangaroo Court" that reflects this criticism too.
.
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