Matt Bors for July 02, 2014

Whereas the ammosexuals and Republiclans are content to destroy education by denying it funding, so the only thing the students are good for is going into the army and learning how to kill.

“Parents are just as important at educating their children as a teacher is. You have to push your child, make them strive harder, and set the bar higher.”

I never see this in print, nor do I hear it uttered when pols and bureaucrats speak on the subject. ANY child psychologist can tell you how critical the first 5-6 years are to a young, developing mind. It is a outright shame, and indicative to where our society is heading when teachers must take courses in how to deal with violent students, and our schools must be secured with all manner of expensive electronic devices! It has always been the duty of parents to instill positive values, and train them, more by example, how to behave in public.

But, I cannot simply criticize the parents, who must compete for their children’s attention with TV, violent video games, and other kids whom they should not be “hanging out” with. Most parents (if they are lucky enough) must BOTH work jobs today just to make ends meet! Societal mores and technology change so rapidly that it is difficult for many to keep up, much less prosper. But, I digress.

DaSharkie is right on with this observation.

Actually, this is the most effective suggestion I’ve seen

The Hierarchy of Hazard Control is: Elimination, Substitution, Engineering Controls, Administrative Controls, and Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). I guess the Safety Sandwich would be considered PPE. .Hey, a whole new industry to provide jobs! Now, let’s squabble about government subsidies and tax deductions …

No. Liberals try to DO something about it. Conservatives, apparently, love their guns more than they love their kids. It’s unfortunate when that pathology damages other people’s families.

Thomas Thieme: Not quite a century. Farming was a significant part of the economy up until just after WW-I, when it was replace by imported food (United Fruit, etc.). Prohibition got the blame for blame for post-WW-I social breakdown. Who can get emotional of social breakdown due to rapid urbanization? Despite the popular song of the time, “How’re you gonna keep them down on the farm after they’ve seen Pa-ree?”

During the 1970s, middle class people found that, if the woman worked outside the home in addition to the man, there would be more disposable income. By the early 1980s, prices for cars and houses had more than doubled. Coincidence?

By the time we heard our “Morning in America” speech, it was basically a requirement for both parents to work fulltime just to chase the American dream. Once we became dependent on TV and daycare centers for the formative years of our childrens’ development, there was a marked decline in pupil readiness, which continues to this day.

I saw a documentary recently of the Finnish school system, reported by Morgan Spurlock. The Finns score among the top in almost all measurements of educational value. He spent some time in a Finnish high school. The school day is about 5 hours long. Breaks between classes are at least 15 minutes long, and pupils are allowed to socialize and even walk outside! Homework almost always takes less than a half hour. And they still score way higher than we do in math, science, and the humanities.

There are better systems. If we were smart, we would research those that work and determine why they do, and how to apply their methods to our particular needs. We would also research what doesn’t seem to work, to try to eliminate same.

There will always be resistance to change. This doesn’t mean that we can’t change anything. We have the resources and the need: education is our nation’s future.

“As for the point of the toon, school shootings have not had a dramatic spike as of late. Nor have gun murders, nor has violent crime.”

This has nothing to do with the point of the "toon. The point is that the very fact that someone has produced such a product is an admission that school shootings are just a fact of life these days, implying nothing can be done.

The reason it is accepted is that it is apparent that prevention is not a priority; therefore we should just get used to it. There used to be an expression comparing an ounce of prevention to a pound of cure, but it evidently does not apply when guns are involved. And that is sad.

And that is all that the ’toon is about. The fact that things are not statistically worse does not prove that things are better.

“But if it bleeds, it leads.”

And that’s why these people buy the guns and shoot up schools to begin with: so they can get publicity and go out in a blaze of glory. Once again, prevention….oh, why bother?

Gee, we used to be able to take guns to school for “Show and Tell” back in the early 60’s.Mostly WW2 souvenirs that our dads brought home. No one ever got shot or even threatened and school shootings were unheard of.Tell me again how the easy availability of guns is at fault.