We Need A Paradigm Shift In Our Culture

The following was transmitted to President Trump on his website, Feb. 16, 2018.

If we as a society do not change our culture drastically, we can talk about mass shooting prevention until we are blue in the face, nothing of consequence will happen, and shootings in schools and elsewhere will happen again and again.  We as a nation have failed too many times, at all levels, in every category of local and federal Government Agencies, including the FBI, the School Administration, and Citizenry.

The world Trade towers' story was perhaps the biggest blunder, since Pearl Harbor, if indeed it was caused by outside agents; many professionals in engineering and sciences, including Metallurgy would argue that the heat generated by burning Jet Fuel in air will not melt steel. 

FACT: Jet fuel burns at 800° to 1500°F, not hot enough to melt steel (2750°F).

For the sake of this article, let us say, the towers came down because of the witnessed impact by the Planes, piloted by foreign agents.  Here were more than enough warning signs, to foil this plot, had the agencies responsible for our protection done their job; they did not see the obvious over and over again.  One could almost get the feeling that nobody wanted to handle this hot potato, or worse still, nobody gave a damn about our safety.  In any event, the FBI, and others, did not do their due diligence, in this matter as well.

The recent mass school killings in Parkland, Florida, just a few days ago, almost mirrors the incompetence exhibited before 911 happened; here too the many warning signs were ignored, or for lack of competence, not recognized what they were.

Now let us look at what went wrong.
The school administration took the easy way out, by just kicking the student out, without investigating the root cause for his unsociable behavior; I have read or heard so far nothing about such an effort.  After such a tragedy, involving the loss of life, and serious injuries, schools are quick to provide counseling to the survivors, but apparently the troubled student received little, or most likely no counseling, by the school, or the school district; he should have been referred to a professional psychological counsel.  We all know that children, and young people act out to get attention.  This is especially true for teens, who yearn to be respected like adults; they want to be somebody, they are trying to cement their self-esteem.

Now let us look at a better way to handle a similar situation.
Let me share a real life situation, which I experienced a while back.  One of my supervisors came to see me, to report that a certain inspector, who was a Vietnam Vet. had said to him, that sometimes he feels like coming to work with a gun, and kill all those who are constantly bullying him, at the workplace.  I ask my supervisor, how he responded to the individual.  Whereupon he told me, " I said, what the hell are you talking about".  At this point it would have been easy to fire, the inspector, on the spot.  I chose a different route to solve the problem.

I ask that the inspector come to my office at once, for a talk.  When he arrived, looking very upset, I invited him to seat next to me; I did not sit behind my desk to demonstrate my authority, which would have been very wrong.  After assuring him that this talk was not between him and his manager, he opened up bit by bit.  I learned that he was under the care by a VA hospital for some time for PSD, without much success.  When I asked, why does he think his fellow employees are harassing him, he could not point at a specific reason, they, apparently, just enjoyed bullying him; he broke down in tears.  His self-esteem appeared to be rock bottom.

Here is what I did to resolve the issue.  First I offered for him to go home for the rest of the day, with pay, to calm down.  Then I asked him not to report for work, at his usual place of work, but to report to another division, a few miles from the former place.  Finally I asked him to keep our conversation private.  A couple of days later I visited him at his new job, and before I could asked him how things were going with him, he told me that he liked his new job, and that his fellow workers liked him.  It was very obvious, his self-esteem was on the mend.  I followed up several months later, and found him to be all smiles.  When I asked his supervisor about him, the man was also all smiles; we had a win-win situation.

I have been managing Quality Assurance/Inspection departments, for major Aircraft and Aerospace companies for many, many years.  I also lectured on Root Cause Identification and Corrective action, at a number of Technical Symposiums, and I think I am qualified for saying, that the school administration handled this student, less than professional.  It appears their action contributed to the sad outcome of this story.

From what I could gather, early in the phase of this matter, other students were knowingly or unwittingly making this student feel less than welcome, in his surrounding.  The student's perception must be acknowledged.  His alleged bad behavior was most likely caused by what he perceived to be a hostile environment.  The school administration knew, or should have known, in what situation this student found himself.  The school administration forgot that every student is also a customer, without whom they would not be in business; one must never see a customer leave ones business upset and humiliated, because human nature will look for vindication, or worse try to get even.

Most schools in our country manage barely to instill the necessary academic knowledge, and skills into their students; more importantly, the fail together with the parents, to show them what good social behavior looks like.  I live near a middle school, and I see these young people, on our streets when they are on their way home, and I can assure, they lack good social manners.  They have no respect for public or private property, nor consideration for the world around them.  What are our schools doing to eradicate bullying?  To make matters worse, we are providing these young people with smart phones, so they can insult and malign others, in an anonymous fashion, and have driven some to suicide because of it.

As far as the FBI is concerned, their excuse that they were unable to link the screenshot provided to the person who posted this insane statement, about wanting to be a professional school shooter, is not only sad, but totally outrageous.  They were sitting on vital input provided to them, doing absolutely nothing to prevent this tragedy.  After the killing, they now suddenly were able to connect the dots.  That reminds one of the police department, who did not act properly, when a young women athlete reported sexual abuse by the team doctor.  An apology by them, this late in the game, only adds insult to injury.

The first order of business to solve any problem must always be the search for the root cause, only then can we take action for the immediate fix, followed by lasting corrective action, to prevent any recurrence.  We need parents and relatives to talk to the young people in their family, and guide them to become good members of our society.  Next the schools must reinforce good social manners, in and around the school, and the world at large.  So far I see little of any evidence that this is happening.  Too many parents, today, are too preoccupied with themselves to bother with the very children they produced.

When I grew up, all the neighbors in the immediate surrounding had the God given right to discipline us unruly children, and when we complaint about them doing so, we got another lecture from our parents as well.  Nowadays, should a neighbor scold or slap an unruly child, he his immediately threatened with a lawsuit by the parents, who did not fulfill their obligation to educate their off-springs to act always in a civil manner, respecting others, as well as their property.

Last but not least our law enforcement agencies, who get pretty good pay, must earn their paycheck, by performing their fiduciary obligations, and protect the people 100% every time; too many times young people are ignored, as a matter of routine.  Young misguided people can inflict great pain, on all of us, when they perceive that we do not respect them as a person, by ignoring their mental anguish.  From our own experience, we surely all know that growing up is not easy!