Non-violent grass roots reform and Democracy: Inciting School Shootings In Trump Country

According to GQ Editor-in-Chief Jim Nelson Trump Is Our Nation's Worst Commander-in-Grief 05/21/2018; and I can't argue with him, at least when it comes to consoling the victims and their loved ones. The traditional media, Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, and even George W Bush all do a much better job consoling the victims than Donald Trump, and perhaps they might do better than me, since I'm not that sure I would be that good at it, although even I could do much better than Donald Trump.

However when it comes to educating the majority of the public about the causes of this violence so that they can help prevent it they all do an incredibly incompetent job, even though if they wanted to consult with some of the most reliable researchers they could easily do so, and these researchers often want to do much more to get their views across. Unfortunately, the mass media appears unwilling to provide them with an opportunity to address the public!

One of the most important contributing causes to escalating violence, as I have been pointing out repeatedly is early child abuse and bullying leading to escalating violence. There was a 2002 study (PDF) pointing this out; since then I have taken a rough look myself and found that school shootings continue to be more common in states still using corporal punishment, although in some years, thanks to a small number of shootings with high death tolls like Newtown that can skewer the results one way or another. This year it has risen significantly after going down fer several consecutive years but they're even more common, in states with corporal punishment in schools, than that study points out with 36 out of 41 deaths, and 26 out of 46 shootings, between January 1 2018 and June 2 2018 happening in states with corporal punishment, even though they only have about 40% of the population. I also looked up how many of them took place in states where Donald Trump won and 39 out of 41 of the deaths, and 33 out of 46 shootings took place in his states which was just barely over fifty percent of the population, although he got less than fifty percent of the popular vote. (These figures and the meme above were updated to add a few additional shootings in the two weeks following the Santa Fe shootings, and to correct an under-count of the MSD deaths which were mistakenly calculated at only fourteen deaths when there were seventeen.)

This is just one, and probably the most important one, of many contributing causes to escalating violence that the traditional media almost never discuss. The only contributing cause that they seem to be willing to discuss in detail is gun control and even that involves mostly arguing back and forth without explaining the details. When they do discuss something else like violent media, Ritalin or too many doors it's done in a manner that is designed to present it as ridiculous even when some of these issues might be worth serious consideration, although creating a fire hazard by limiting doors isn't one of them.

In the two highest profile school shootings this years there is evidence indicating that both shooters came from troubled backgrounds and may have been raised in strict authoritarian or abusive manners and subject to bullying at school, although there are distortions in at least one of the stories. The grandmother of one of a former friend of the Texas shooter, Bertha "Bland ... said Pagourtzis came from what seemed to her like a strict household, where she said he barely had a social life," according to What we know about Dimitrios Pagourtzis, the alleged Santa Fe High School shooter 05/21/2018 She also said that he was interested in violent video games, which may have been a contributing factor, although I doubt if it was as important as early child abuse or bullying.

James Garbarino, a child psychologist has cited studies which he claims shows that it is a contributing factor; however he also puts most of the emphasis on early abuse or bullying when trying to explain what causes escalating violence. One of the reasons why I suspect that violent videos isn't nearly as important as early child abuse is that violence has been going down, for the most part for decades, although there are occasional reverses including an increase in the murder rates in the past two years after hitting an all time low in 2013-4. The use of violent video games has increased dramatically in that same time period. However starting with the teachings of several reformers in child rearing tactics, including Dr. Benjamin Spock, after World War II there has been a steady decline in the use of strict authoritarian upbringings, including the use of corporal punishment. The areas where this was cut the most are the same areas where the murder rates have dropped the most, but in the South, where they use corporal punishment the most they also have the highest murder rates.

Additional indications of bullying was reported in Texas school shooting: Accused shooter's dad believes bullying behind rampage, paper says 05/22/2018, which says "His father told the Journal that Dimitrios was 'mistreated at school' and 'I believe that's what was behind' the shooting." This article also indicates that he may have also had a temper, which might have impacted the way he raised his son saying "According to Harris County court records, Pagourtzis (the shooters father) was twice charged with misdemeanor assault -- in 1987 and 2012 -- and both cases were dismissed." ..... "In the 2012 case, Pagourtzis punched a man and 'grabbed his face and hit his head on the ground causing his nose to bleed' after, Pagourtzis alleged, the man hurt dogs at his shop, a police affidavit said."

Additional evidence of bullying was raised by Dimitrios Pagourtzis's attorney in Claims of bullying surface as Santa Fe community mourns mass shooting 05/23/2018, which says, "Poehl acknowledged comments by a classmate who has said in interviews with media outlets that school coaches bullied him." this was followed up by mostly denials from the school; however another article, Lawyer for alleged Santa Fe gunman looking into reports that suspect was bullied 05/21/2018 raising the same claims, "This weekend Santa Fe ISD released a statement saying they had investigated the claims of bullying and found them to be not true," Poehl said. "That was released less than 24 hours after the incident occurred. It’s not clear what the nature of that investigation was except that it is clear that they didn’t reach out to any of the kids that were on TV claiming that it occurred, so we have some questions about that investigation.”

This is part of a pattern of behavior in school shootings that has gone back at least to Columbine, where communities are so shocked and outraged they often exaggerate things in both directions. However, think about it honestly, if there was no bullying in any of these school shootings why would they have happened? Do these kids mysteriously become violent with no explanation whatsoever? If you've ever been bullied have you ever felt the urge to strike out like this at the bullies? If victims of bullying does happen is it likely that communities that are at least partly responsible might go into denial, especially when the consequences are so severe?

Preventing future disasters has to involve making decisions based on accurate facts; and suppressing evidence doesn't do that, therefore making more disasters more likely.

This also happened at Parkland Fla., and there's also evidence to indicate that some of this was exaggerated and distorted and additional false accusations, were made against Emma González for participating in the bullying. This essentially means that the gun rights advocates that were accusing her of participating in the bullying and exaggerating or distorting her comments for political reasons were participating in bullying of their own. However, some of these claims come from more reliable sources, and a close look at some of the articles supposedly debunking these claims might indicate that even though the student leaders that are being accused of participating in the bullying probably weren't, there was still bullying going on, as indicated in the following article, which isn't one of the extreme right wing reports:

To longtime friend, school shooter Nikolas Cruz was lonely, volatile, ostracized 02/17/2018

Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School is the jewel of Parkland, graduating top-notch students and athletes who grow up in a dignified affluence far removed from the gritty urban sprawl of Miami.

Many live in vast gated communities enveloped by horse pastures and pristine nature trails. Rated among the best high schools in Florida, Stoneman Douglas has won five national math championships, has the state’s top marching band and boasts science and engineering programs where students fly weather balloons and drones.

But Nikolas Cruz never felt a part of this warm nest of promise and achievement. The warning signs of a simmering danger brought on by his mental illness were documented by his school, his fellow students, his family, the police, child welfare agencies, the FBI and even by his own hand, on social media.

Cruz’s Valentine’s Day rampage at Stoneman Douglas that ended 17 lives came after months and years of violent, erratic outbursts that often frightened fellow students and others who came in contact with him, records show. .....

“Someone could have approached a faculty member, a guidance counselor, a teacher and said, ‘This kid gets bullied a lot, someone should do something,’ ” said student Manolo Alvarez, 17, who had history class with Cruz. “I regret definitely not saying anything.” ......

“He was ostracized his whole life,” said Gold, who said he was one of only four people, including Nikolas, and his younger brother, Zachary, who attended the funeral of his mother, Lynda Cruz, in November. .....

Gold said Lynda Cruz was strict with her sons, and was not averse to striking them when they misbehaved. At least one time, DCF investigated her for possibly abusing the boys and inadequately supervising them. The case was closed. Nikolas Cruz was getting treatment at Henderson Mental Health, the DCF report said. Still, they concluded he was not enough of a threat to be hospitalized or committed to a facility. Complete article

The denial of the bullying happening, appears to have already led to even more bullying on both sides, including the cyber-bullying, and perhaps additional real life bullying, from the gun rights advocates targeting the gun control advocates and according to the following article there are also additional bullying against other people that are already having emotional problems:

Hints of suspicion and discomfort arise after Parkland school shooting for children who are different 03/27/2018

In the aftermath of the Parkland massacre, some students with disabilities are being taunted or callously pegged by others as being the next school shooter, parents and experts say.

“There’s been a lot of bullying going on in our schools,” said Kelly Busch, a South Florida advocate for children with autism.

School and mental health records show that Nikolas Cruz, who killed 17 and wounded 17 more at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High on Valentine’s Day, was reported to have numerous conditions, including autism and severe behavioral and emotional problems.

Slapping Cruz with an autistic label has increased the angst of parents of children with the neurological disorder, who already struggle to foster acceptance and compassion for their children.

Experts say some people with autism, especially children, may find it hard to communicate or to control their emotions. They can experience “sensory overload,” or become frustrated when unable to express themselves and may become aggressive or irritated. Their outbursts — such as throwing a chair — occur in flashes, however, and typically are minor and over quickly. Premeditated acts of violence are not a symptom of autism. Yet Valerie Herskowitz, of Jupiter, who has a grown son with autism, said she’s heard from parents that some students have asked autistic children: “Are you going to kill us?” Complete article

Reports of bullying have been almost completely absent from the national media, assuming the covered it at all; however it was reported at local levels, although even then it was kept to a minimum. In most cases those who tried to address it were demonized, which may seem partially understandable, when gun rights advocates distorted and misrepresented the problem in Parkland Florida when they said Emma González confessed to bullying, which according to articles listed below, she did not. If you go to the full quote it says that they did try to report problems to authorities and get help before saying "Those talking about how we should have not ostracized him? You didn’t know this kid, OK? We did," which gun rights advocates falsely interpreted as an admission to participating in the bullying. However there were reports that indicate that there was bullying involved in both cases, and that the authorities did little about it. In the case of Santa Fe some of the bullying was alleged to have been done by adult coaches.

No one, including me, wants to blame the victims, especially when it's not justified; however in order to figure out what the leading contributing causes are and prevent them we have to ask some tough questions, even if it leads to false conclusions, at least temporarily while checking the details. But there has been evidence for years, if not decades to indicate that child abuse leading to escalating violence including bullying, or domestic violence, and eventually these school shootings are a major factor.

Fortunately some of these kids and communities are recognizing additional contributing causes, at least at the local level, even if the national media is unwilling to report on the best research. Washington state media reported on some of the actions taken by local activists from Marysville, where they had a school shooting killing five about four years ago and they participated in the "March For Our Lives" rally. According to, 'This has to stop' say Snohomish Co. students who plan to march in DC 03/17/2018 local student Bailey Thoms said “I’m not going to say guns aren’t an issue, they are part of it and bullying I think is a bigger part of it,” and some of the other articles about this group also indicate that unlike the national media they've been willing to discuss a variety of contributing factors instead of obsessing only on gun control.

I agree that a reasonable amount of gun control should be passed to make it harder to turn a dispute into mass murder but contrary to many claims from the most vocal people in the media and the Democratic Party it's not the only contributing factor, or even close nor is it likely to be the most important factor. Europe doesn't have nearly as bad a problem with school shootings, of violence in general; many of their countries do a much better funding their education system, providing child and health care, including mental health and many of them have also banned use of corporal punishment everywhere, not just in schools.

As I have pointed out repeatedly, while our murder rate is consistently close to five, if not more, per hundred thousand, many of the countries that have banned corporal punishment and spend more money on education have rates less than one, which is, of course a fraction of our murder rates, and mass shootings are also much less common, yet the media spends little or no time discussing what they might be doing differently, with the possible exception of gun ownership.

Even though Gun rights advocates are obviously trying to distract from gun control some of the contributing factors they try to blame deserve a reasonable amount of attention although they should be discussed in a less emotional and theatrical manner and it should include additional research into the details, even if they can't put it all into a thirty second sound bite. If they wanted to do a good job they could devote a show to one cause her or there and provide additional details online letting the public know where to find it, but they've demonstrated with their actions that they're not willing to do this, whether there's not profit in it or it contradicts their ideology or some other reason.

One of these issues should be prescription drugs, which some spoke-people from the NRA has attempted to blame. There's no shortage of research alleging to show that there is a connection between murder, suicide and antidepressant drugs, some of which appears quite credible. One thing they rarely mention when discussing this is that medication is often used as a first resort instead of trying to treat other social problems that might contribute to depression which might include preventing child abuse, bullying, social pressures from a rigged economy, or propaganda promoting wars based on lies. It should be easy to understand that most medication or other medical treatment should kept to a minimum, unless they're certain that it will do more good than harm, as the Hippocratic oath recommends. However, pharmaceutical profits are often put ahead of this simple principle.

Another issue, as I mentioned earlier, is potential violent media making people more prone to go on shooting sprees. As I mentioned earlier James Garbarino has cited studies which indicate this is a contributing factor, although I suspect it's minor compared to earlier abuse. But a much bigger problem is negligence on the part of the media since we rely on them to provide educational material so we can make good decisions and they rarely even do this.

Some of the most important contributing causes of violence also have some direct or indirect connection to profits or political reasons which those that control the media don't seem to want to address. This isn't limited to violence in school shootings and includes gambling or insurance related murders or other forms of fraud. In both these cases the media makes an enormous amount of profit selling these industries ads, and a close look at the investment portfolios of these media companies has indicated that they have other financial investments, and often have interlocking board members with these industries. This implies an obvious conflict of interest and their lack of reporting on the connections adds to the evidence to indicate they're far more concerned with profits than with educating the public about how to make rational decisions about how to avoid escalating violence or many other issues including keeping health care and education costs down and avoiding wars based on lies.

The media also has common investment interests and interlocking board members with the health care, pharmaceutical and military industries. It simply doesn't take a genius to know that we need to rethink how we control and fund the mass media.

This chart was retrieved from Facts vs. Opinion: School Corporal Punishment 05/03/2018, he sites "The National School Safety Center’s Report on School Associated Violent Deaths (1992-2007)" as his source, which I haven't been able to confirm independently; however it is consistent with the data I have reviewed, although a couple high profile school shootings between 2002 and 2016, including Virginia Tech., Newtown Connecticut and Umpqua Community College skewered the results for that time period dramatically raising death toll from states not allowing corporal punishment in schools.

Figures to determine how many shootings came from states still using corporal punishment in schools came from everytownresearch.org over 40 school shootings as of 05/19/2018 although most have few injuries , two additional shootings weren't reported on this site as of the time this article is being posted, including the Santa Fe shooting, but they were reported on Wikipedia.

For additional information or sources see the following:

Texas school shooting: Accused shooter's dad believes bullying behind rampage, paper says 05/22/2018 His father told the Journal that Dimitrios was "mistreated at school" and "I believe that's what was behind" the shooting. ....

According to Harris County court records, Pagourtzis was twice charged with misdemeanor assault -- in 1987 and 2012 -- and both cases were dismissed. In 2008, he was convicted of illegally dumping wood materials, records show.

In the 2012 case, Pagourtzis punched a man and "grabbed his face and hit his head on the ground causing his nose to bleed" after, Pagourtzis alleged, the man hurt dogs at his shop, a police affidavit said.

What we know about Dimitrios Pagourtzis, the alleged Santa Fe High School shooter 05/21/2018 Bland also said Pagourtzis came from what seemed to her like a strict household, where she said he barely had a social life. .... One of the victims, Shana Fisher, had rejected the suspect's advances for months, her mother Sadie Baze said. About a week ago, she stood up to him in class to proclaim she would not go out with him, Baze said. Baze said she believes the incident embarrassed the suspect so much that he targeted Shana. "One of the shotgun shells was for my daughter," she said.

Santa Fe High School shooting suspect's father says son was bullied 05/21/2018

Duncan: Boycott School Until Gun Laws Change 05/21/2018

KIPP and KOPP join Duncan in telling parents to boycott schools until gun law is passed 05/21/2018

Some Santa Fe shooting victims may have been caught crossfire 04/21/2018 Original headline was quickly changed to "Sheriff does not believe Santa Fe shooting victims were killed by police crossfire"

Things blamed for the deadly Texas school shooting: Ritalin. Abortion. The media. Schools. And doors. 05/21/2018

Did Emma González ‘Admit’ to Bullying the Parkland School Shooter? 03/28/2018

Lunatics Are Blaming the Parkland Teens for "Bullying" Mass Murderer Nikolas Cruz 04/01/2018 And even if any students had bullied someone, that doesn't give anyone the right to walk into a school with an assault rifle and murder people.

Emma González Conspiracy Theory Debunked: Parkland Student Did Not Admit to Bullying Nikolas Cruz 04/02/2018 The school report did note that Cruz was bullied by students. He jumped off a bus at the urging of his peers, according to the report, and had difficulty understanding why offensive behavior led classmates to retaliate. But the claim that González, or any of the other prominent activists, was responsible for bullying Cruz remained unsubstantiated.

'This has to stop' say Snohomish Co. students who plan to march in DC 03/17/2018 “I’m not going to say guns aren’t an issue, they are part of it and bullying I think is a bigger part of it” Bailey Thoms explained.

‘This is real’: Students to march in Marysville on Saturday 03/04/2018 “The mental health factor is huge,” said Thoms, who doesn’t want Saturday’s march to be the end of her school-safety efforts. “I want to reach out and have more interaction, maybe start some sort of club. It’s important not to feel alone at school.”

Marysville students: Fear of school shouldn’t feel normal 03/04/2018

M’ville rally for safe schools moved to Comeford Park 03/02/2018 Too much is made of when couples break up. “It’s an embarrassment. People take sides,” Thoms said, with Bartolone adding, “They get mean.”