School Shooting and Teen Taunting

* Re “2 Killed, 13 Hurt in School Shooting,” March 6: Here we go again. Another tragedy that will be turned into another anecdote that will become a debate (on mental illness, gun control, trying a teenager as an adult, whether this would have happened if the Ten Commandments were posted on school property, etc.) that will be forgotten (until it happens again) once the TV movie is made.

We’re stuck with the bizarre notions that teasing and taunting are “normal” and “human nature” and that children who get ridiculed (as, apparently, suspect Charles Andrew Williams was) somehow “ask for it.” Also, hate-filled speech (in this case, a threat made by a boy who had access to his father’s guns) still is not taken seriously as long as the speaker claims he’s “only kidding” or “it’s just a joke.”

“Vanilla-white-bread” suburbs, “good neighborhoods,” are famous for suppressing pain and anger, which is probably why they’re becoming powder kegs.

KEVIN DAWSON

Sunland

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Within hours after a 15-year-old boy allegedly killed two schoolmates and injured more than a dozen others at Santana High School, President Bush went on the air and condemned his “act of cowardice.” This without knowing the boy’s motivation or mental state. Aside from a presumption of innocence, there seems to be a reasonable presumption of sickness. Is this how long “compassion” lasts?

SAUL TURTELTAUB

Beverly Hills

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Our president called the school shooting “a disgraceful act of cowardice.” I agree with his syntax and accusation but not with the object of his accusation. The ones guilty of lack of courage are those congressmen (largely of his party) who repeatedly vote against gun control.

LEONARD M. LINDE

Los Angeles

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I am very disturbed by this wave of school shootings that has hit our nation recently. I am a senior at my high school, and though I feel very safe in my school, I am saddened to think that there are students in some schools who fear their fellow classmates. Hopefully people will see what a stupid and cowardly thing it is to try to solve their problems with a gun.

KELLEN C. RILEY

Cayucos

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It is with great sadness I write this letter to express my deepest sympathy to those who have lost loved ones or suffered injury at the hands of the young, disaffected alleged shooter. As the father of a 15-year-old high school freshman, former high school teacher and responsible gun owner, it is clear that the suspect’s parents are that in name only. We see the same pattern emerging as with other school shootings: a troubled adolescent, a pariah with suicidal/homicidal tendencies spiraling into isolation and depression without intervention from those whose primary job is to love, care for and guide him.

In the aftermath there will come the inevitable balm from the California Legislature, more gun control--the perennial panacea put forth in knee-jerk fashion to address something not even remotely close to the real issue. Draconian legislation only serves to diminish freedom and accomplishes nothing.

PERRY KNEISEL

Redondo Beach

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Why did the shooting at Santana High School occur? It occurred because access to handguns is easy. Any person looking for a way to vent rage can express it by blasting at the perceived enemy. This is far from the “well-regulated militia” cited in the Bill of Rights. In fact, the proliferation of handguns is way out of control. So, the question is not why did this shooting occur. Shootings like this and at Columbine High School will continue with regularity as long as the country tolerates such easy access to guns.

MARK GREEN

Pacific Palisades

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What a tragedy. Another situation where a young student is taunted to the point of murderous revenge. Why is there vilification of outcasts and why is a shooting rampage the popular method of response? Could the fault lie with the public school system? Why can’t we teach our children about the sanctity of life? Is it because we have no sanctity of life ourselves?

The theory of evolution is creating a fact of devolution, because it tells us we are accidents with no moral obligations. Legalized abortion negates our right to life and teaches that we are expendable and burdensome creatures. Euthanasia is just a repackaged form of Hitler’s master race ideology. Until we learn these lessons, we are doomed to the deterioration of our societal fabric.

LIONEL DE LEON

Garden Grove

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It seems to me that the front-page location of your story on the high school shooting is all wrong. It is exactly what a troubled child would dream of--fame, attention, importance. It belongs elsewhere in the paper. And it seems to me that there was too much included in the story. Do we need student interviews, pictures of distraught parents and all to help us understand the profound problem?

BARBARA PRITZKAT

Redondo Beach