Donald Whitelock questions why these incidents occur
When I went to school, the schoolyard bully might beat you, or steal your lunch money. You had options to fight, run, or negotiate — it would be your decision to make. Telling an adult was not acceptable, and your parents expected you to handle the problem. I can remember a boy bringing in his new shotgun to show everyone in our grammar school class. There was no problem.
The first schoolyard massacre I remember, in my 70 years, was Columbine High in April of 1999.
To understand what recently happened in South Florida, maybe we should ask ourselves what changed between when I was a kid, to 1999. Perhaps, we have overprotected our children. Now, when they are faced with a problem [threat], they can’t make good decisions because they have no experience. A schoolyard bully today might stab or shoot you for resisting. This could be our [parents’] fault. On Wednesday, Feb. 14, a boy who was an outcast — a bully himself, in an effort to get even — made some bad decisions. Question now is, how do we put the genie back in the bottle?
Our children just aren’t as tough as they used to be. I’m talking mentally, not muscularly. I’m not trying to justify that boy’s actions (in Florida), but I do think this is a Frankenstein that we created. This is my opinion, and I think it’s worth some thought.
Donald Whitelock
