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Student losses

March 7, 2008, 2:37 pm

By Lesboprof

I have several different kinds of entries fighting to be written about the recent deaths of young people, on junior high school and college campuses and in nearby communities, due to gun violence…

one political, about the need to fight the pro-gun advocates who want to force schools and colleges to allow guns on campus;

one lesbian feminist, engaging the ongoing and longlasting politics of violence against young women, gay men, and transgender teens, those who are in school and those who live and work outside the high school/college atmosphere; one emotional, sort of a “what the hell is happening to our young people when they can’t even go to school without getting shot or shooting others?”;

and another activist, wanting to encourage the state to support better mental health and criminal justice interventions.

I could argue about all of these positions simultaneously, because I believe that this rash of killings of junior high, high school, and college students involve so many factors.

But mostly what I feel is sad. We have lost so much, so many young people of great promise. Even the killer in the NIU murders had gifts and talents that were lost as a result of mental illness that went untreated.
We must continue to work for better schools, better supports for our youth–those that are facing bullying and oppression and even those who are causing it. We have to work for a better world–one with fewer guns, more understanding and community, and better services and supports to those in need.
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  • Comment (2)
  • undine

    I think the gunman in the NIU case had been treated but had declined to take his meds, which seems to happen in a tragic number of cases. This speaks to the need you mention for better community and better services, since it’s a lot to expect someone who is mentally ill to take medication without any social supports.

  • NotaGoodQueer

    My name is not a good queer on blog spot. I wanted to thank you for writing this very important article.

    I agree with you on the saddness that I feel for all the suffering that has happened. I know thier are no easy solutions but it appears to me that the subject of guns is frightning on college and school campuses.

    I want the old America to comeback when thier was no September 11, no shootings in the schools, and you could buy a coke,a candy bar, and a bag of chips for one dollar.

    How I yearn for a safer world and have our children be safe in this world and be protected from the harm of a few individuals who needed help themselves.

    Lisa/Lee Iacuzzi
    Not a Good Queer
    MA @ PSu

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