catfish78 wrote:
Please expailn this to me. I do not understand your rational on this matter. I lived in the US all my life and nothing like this every occured anywhere close to me. The world's kids have problems not just the kids in the US. You can never stop people from committing crimes such as this. Even with out the use of guns. Irrational killings have taken place since the dawn of man. Location and access to fire arms do not make poeple kill other people. This person was clearly disturbed. Warning signs may have been present but no parent, I think, would think their child capable of such a horrific act.
My thoughts and prayers are with the victims and the family's.
I was 110% sure that if I ever had a child, that I'd raise her/him in America. Even when I became pregnant less than 2 yrs ago I was certain that I'd move back home to raise my daughter there. I even went back for a couple months during my pregnancy to get things in order and make a plan for the big move. It was during that trip that I noticed things around me with new eyes (the eyes of a mother). The Amber alert, Dateline's, "To Catch a Predator", metal detectors in schools (even in the supposed good neighborhoods way out in the burbs, far from any inner cities), security guards and in some cases police officers patrolling schools, mall shootings, workplace shootings, school shootings, gang violence, kidnappings, mass murder, serial killers, "stranger danger", carjackings, etc... All things that are very rarely (if ever) heard of in Finland, yet you can hear about daily on the news in America.
At my baby shower I heard other mothers talk about how they can't even let their children play outside without constant adult supervision in fear of a pedophile or other kind of weirdo snatching up their child. I'm not even talking about toddlers, I'm talking about 10-12 yr olds. Over the summer here in Helsinki at my local park I met a 6 & 7 yr old brother/sister playing without any adults supervising them. They freely talked to me and they even told me where they lived (without me asking) and I remember thinking how if this were America that this would never have happened, due to parents having to teach their children to NEVER talk to strangers under ANY circumstances. At this same park there is a big box full of toys that stays unlocked all day & night and nobody worries about people stealing them, where as in the states they'd be stolen in a second. These are just a couple minor examples.
Just because this (a school shooting) never happened anywhere close to where you grew up in the states doesn't change the fact that it does happen with some amount of regularity across the country (even in an Amish community!). When people think of school shootings they don't think of Finland, they think of the USA, and with reason. "Going postal" is a common expression used in America BECAUSE of how many shooting incidents that have occurred in the workplace, especially in the post office.
I'm not saying that crime doesn't happen in Finland. Of course it does. It happens everywhere, but statistically you can't even compare the 2 countries when it comes to the amount of crime committed and there certainly ARE several types of crimes that exist in the states that do not exist here (or at least not nearly on the same level).
My first job was when I was 15 yrs old was as a tele-marketer and you know what I was selling? Home security systems! I don't even know anyone here who has an alarm on their house.
On the issue of firearms, a lot of gun advocates like to say "guns don't kill people, PEOPLE kill people" and while that is true to some extent (if someone is planning to kill, they'll try to do it by whatever means possible), we must also realize that if this same kid used a knife instead of a gun I highly doubt he would've gotten away with murdering EIGHT people. It's easier to fight off someone with a knife than with a gun. Guns DO kill people.
I'm very afraid of copycat incidents, but only time will tell.
Let me end this by saying that I know it's trendy to be anti-American these days, but I am certainly NOT one of those people. There are plenty of things I don't like about Finland, but this doesn't change the fact that I think it's a better society as a whole to raise children in.
EDIT: Though I must add that the incidents of today leave me feeling a bit weary
