THE KIDS ARE NOT ALRIGHT

 My heart is broken ... as it is terrified.

Two students and two security guards lost their lives because a Grade 8 boy went to school with a gun and a rifle and started shooting down his teachers and peers.  What was worse was that he had a body camera to livestream his actions for the world to see as if this act of random execution was something to attest to his accomplishments.

In the end, the shooter aimed the gun at himself to end his life.  Again, he was Grade 8 studying in a prestigeous school armed with academic achievement and a tradition of excellence.

I am a teacher and I do not understand this.

I assume that at this point numerous theories are flying all over the place explaining why this happened.  And this is not the first of such events.  A series of violent crimes committed by minors in a school environment has been causing shock and indignation.  Why is this suddenly happening here in our country?

Information and details about such events reach us through news and social media.  This is something happening across the oceans.  School shootings take place in a different time zone as we shake our heads saying that kids there are different --- and the environment that triggers such acts of inhumanity must be attributed to cultural differences or even attitude of kids to authority.

But now it is happening here.

Many say that this is already a manifestation of the copycat syndrome and unless properly checked, there will be more to come.

It is difficult enough to reckon with students wrestling with a variety of mental health issues.  Again there should be an explanation as to why this generation of kids are so vulnerable and lacking the resilience that our generation as well as the next were willing to face.  I can spend pages and pages trying to find plausible explanations but it is what it is.  Kids are vulnerable ... and volatile.  And their reactions to this vulnerability are shocking.

Whether the shooter was bullied ... or a victim of high expectations to be Numero Uno in his class, we will never know. What is important to note is that he had a gun and a rifle and a bodycam recording and streaming his acts of entitled brutality and inhumanity.  How could a Grade 8 honor student do that to end his own life?

We must never stop asking why and identifying who are accountable for this horrible tragedy.