What can Jedi do to battle the violence?

Kyrin Wyldstar wrote: In fact I have worked at a university and done this very thing. Its not that complicated and its highly effective.

Which university and what system? I'm very interested in seeing how what their student population numbers are, how they've worked out the logistics of getting their students through armed checkpoints, how it was funded, and what the result looks like after implementation (how faculty and students are perceiving it), especially if it's anything like what you've described.

It was a smaller private university in the Midwest that has about 4000 students. This was done several years ago so I cant remember the system but it was a combination of two actually. It was funded by the university themselves as part of an IT budget and it works well to this day as far as I know. The system was also used to track meal plans and access to dorms and parking lot access among other things. Simple ID cards were used for access that were scanned at check points and valid access was allowed through the checkpoints that were monitored by security personnel. Simple process really.

ནའдհдཀ༑ནკ wrote: I honestly see this instance as a community failure. Everyone saw it coming, they even predicted he would do it. So how was it able to actually happen?

I suspect what we'll see as more details emerge is that this is a "perfect storm" of failures - that there were multiple points where interventions or checks could have happened but didn't, and far beyond the community level. It's much like dealing with a suicide - in hindsight you can see so many places where you could have said or done/not done something that might have been able to change the outcome (that's part of the self-torture that this kind of violence, even when not claiming additional victims, leaves you with). I know from my own experiences how much soul-searching over all the mistakes and failures go on afterwards - and that does lead to a lot of beneficial changes being made. But in the end, it is all predicated on the individual's mental illness, how far it has gone, and whether there are the resources to get the kind of real help that can reduce the likelihood that something triggers the "end game scenario" they've been developing.

I don't disagree at all that the negative relationships that develop between a socially isolated "different" individual and their community does play into these kind of tragedies, and that we can and should try to prevent or mitigate that however we can. And I haven't seen anything suggested here that is as simplistic as believing that "peace and love" is going to make all the bad stuff go away. But I think it's also important to understand - and accept - that there are no guaranteed "fixes", especially in a globally connected world where you have communities within communities that also shape individuals. Turning our spaces into prison environments in the name of security is a failsafe solution either -there are a lot of factors that limit how far those measures can go and still be effective for overall health and security.

But I think that taking a measure of responsibility for how people are treated within your space and sphere of influence balanced with a common sense vigilance goes a long way when it comes to prevention. Those effects ripple outwards and can create a stronger orientation to intervening -and thus hopefully catching one of those moments where things could be changed - before it gets to the critical breakdown point. And I see it as direct applications of what the Jedi doctrines and ideals expressed here at the Temple challenge us to be.

Kyrin Wyldstar wrote: The system was also used to track meal plans and access to dorms and parking lot access among other things. Simple ID cards were used for access that were scanned at check points and valid access was allowed through the checkpoints that were monitored by security personnel. Simple process really.

Thank you. I can't speak for k-12 schools, but that part sounds pretty standard for most universities these days (even our large state-funded ones). Many do have their own independent fully-certified armed police force as well (at least every one I've visited and/or talked with) and after VT, ensuring that individual doors to classrooms could be locked became standard. Instant alert systems and active shooter drills also become common post-VT. Fire and emergency safety codes generally require multiple escape exits, and residence halls and many types of buildings have strictly controlled keycard based access. Basically, we have everything listed in some form except for the armed guards at single-entry checkpoints into buildings, and that is beyond the logistical reach of most large universities. It would require not only deep structural changes (for instance, we had one class that had 1000 students - we can barely get them into their seats in the allotted time between classes), but there would have to be public acceptance of both the budget demands and the changes it would mean in the perceived environment.

The human factor is going to decide how effective any measures are - we had the restricted keycard access in place in West AJ before the shootings, but people would routinely hold the doors open for others. There's a balance point where people will undermine security measures if it inconveniences them past a certain point, and there's the psychological effect that also has to be considered. Person-to-person behavior changes are actually a valid and far-reaching method of increasing security while also creating checks on the potential abuse of security systems.

You are right, there is definitely a trade off of convenience for security. Its a balancing act that must always be considered. I worked in airports for years and in those environments security is paramount over convenience. It was extremely hard to get around and any violation was met with instant and fierce reaction. Of course the environment of a school probably could not handle such strict security measures as an airport but I believe that more could be done in the future to better secure them than is being done today.

If only we considered and treated our children more like our aircraft this would be the case...

Create a curriculum that is based on getting people to care about one another and tools to accommodate it. Something like, I don't know...

Conflict Resolution
Processing ones Emotions/Emotional Intelligence
Crisis Intervention Peer Support/Psychological First Aide (which focuses on getting someone to a trained professional)
Suicide Prevention
Critical Thinking (it's not required at all districts, make it a requirement)
Personal coping tools to help yourself through a crisis

Heck, we could even go a bit further and do what Japan does: Overzealously encourage people to get into clubs. Doesn't even have to be after-school, it can be ones that takes place during school hours.

Either way, the answer is working on the societal and individual levels- not the national. Until those are resolved, not amount of getting rid of guns is going to prevent someone from going postal by whatever means they can come up with.

That isn't to say we can't have the gun debate too. Just that you can't address one without the other, and we seem to always want to address only one.

The idiot would have known he was going to get killed or caught, so increasing the threat to offenders by arming staff is not necessarily going to achieve any additional deterrence in their mindset, but what it will do is in 'some' circumstances provide a faster response.

The problem I have with it, and it might not be enough of a problem to rule the idea out, is that authorities are better, trained, resourced and employed to respond effectively, then any teacher or even security guard can do. So while it does afford some potential in some circumstances, it also does bring with it the risks of ineffective response (teacher shooting wrong person accidentally) or giving access to more firearms to offenders.

And remembering an offender might not be operating alone. The authorities do it properly in that they have the communications, teamwork, training, equipment and command and control to enable proper response in the safest way to a range of threats that might manifest. Remembering also the offender will have the benefit of surprise and prior planning.

I think when it comes to schools, short of having a Police post at each one, the safest course of action is airport-esk screening of any entry points and perimeter surveillance, to give early detection of a threat (metal, explosives, gunpowder etc) and in a place which can be better engineer to contain it. Depending on how accessible synthetic firearms are.... but 3D printed weapons probably do not have the same barrel survivability to both get past detection devices and also put through too many rounds before becoming unusable do to heat/pressure deformation (which means lower casualties).

I would like to say that I have gone through this entire thread. This morning, when I began reading it, I thought I might write a sermon and record it as a live service, but you have all spoken so beautifully and hit upon all the points I might make, that I find the gesture a bit overkill. This thread was such a wonder to read and I wish I could take each of the suggestions and put them into spheres like 1.) Things I can do personally 2.) Things I can ask my local council to do. 3.) Things I could suggest to the clergy or something like that.

Early in the thread, it was mentioned that there is going to be a lot of relief from places which is going to swamp the community and then sort of dry up and I forgot who mentioned it, but it was something I have never thought about but it made me think of creating more nebulous communities. Because we have become a more globally connected and internet connected, one of the unfortunate consequences is that we have become less connected with the real. With the advent of various modes of transportation, we don't have to confine ourselves to a relatively small community in which we can do our connecting. But the wider our circle of travel is, the greater amount of people we can meet, but we can meet so many it becomes overwhelming. Further, we don't have a vested interest in engaging in our communities in an authentic sense, not geographically anyway. I mean, we don't only know one butcher, one baker, one candle stick maker. We just buy all that stuff on one shopping trip at our local store and we don't need to know. We don't have to meet someone from our neck of the woods in order to get married, there are hundreds of ways to do this, but again, we widen our circle, we lessen our reliance on our community in a geographic sense.
To be sure, there are other types of communities. But this sort of violence touches the geographic community in which it is carried out, this is why I am mentioning geography only.

As it were, I don't think guns should be outlawed. I believe guns with the ability to rapidly kill scores of people should be relegated to the spaces they are needed (a battlefield). I saw an AR in Walmart. Shining in all its glory. I will never forget my gobsmacked expression. I believe that the individuals who purchase these are well meaning and are not going to use them inappropriately, but far too many of these end up in the hands of individuals who do. For the benefit of all, access to these types of guns should be restricted to actively serving military personnel engaged directly in conflict or military training.

I donated to the fund posted by Arisaig. Others have as well. The goal of two million is nearly met. I like Althea's idea for a class and I think the clergy might be able to work on something like that as a tool for us to bring to our circles of influence. Right now a small group of us are working on revamping seminary, but maybe we could get a second group focused on that. Kyrin I like your suggestions as well. I am going to bring them to my Town Council meeting which should be happening first week of March, maybe some or all of it could be implemented. I'll look over this thread some more tomorrow to find some ideas I might have missed

Thank you all

Alethea Thompson wrote: Create a curriculum that is based on getting people to care about one another and tools to accommodate it.

Great point, and there's a lot of that already going on out there with good results. I've been following the development of theater-based youth violence prevention programs in schools in particular, and there's a good pile of studies (I'm happy to share a list if requested) showing that teaching interpersonal and conflict skills through these programs works in reducing violence. Kean University's "Be The Change" program has found that their community garden programs have made small but sustained violence reductions in the neighborhoods where they were implemented. But these programs are frequently the first kind of budgets to get cut by legislatures, and rarely get any big press showing what they're doing. We need people becoming more aware of the alternative methods to just accepting the current level of violence as a "new normal" that can only be met by armoring up.

Ps - typo correction on a previous post: Should have been: "Turning our spaces into prison environments in the name of security is NOT a failsafe solution either.." - hopefully that was clear in context, but just in case...

I also wanted to share this program's work, for any who haven't heard about it: http://www.thegreendragons.com/ . It's exactly the kind of long range investment in community spirit, child/youth development, and real world problem solving that we need more of....and I don't think it would be a big reach to see a Jedi-based effort like this. :)