VA school shooting

What a horrible, horrible thing to happen. My heart goes out to everyone there.
I believe we're going to see some knee-jerk reactions to this, and not particularly well-thought-out ones, at that. This ties in to the Imus thing of the last few weeks. A man was interviewed on television and said that the pendulum has swung as far as it will go in regard to how our society has become violent and crass and that we need to start pulling ourselves together. I agree. What does this have to do with the shootings?
Read Grossman's books, On Combat and On Killing. In there he states, and backs up with evidence, that we have given our children the tools to create a new phenomena, something never seen until recently; the school massacre. We allow them to daily use the same technology we used to train snipers as far back as Vietnam - it's in their video games. We let them watch ever more violent movies. (I saw a small part of Saw III and was appalled.) They watch and imitate Jackass, and are bombarded with "extreme" this or "no rules" that. No wonder they are rude, disregard each other, and commit acts of violence.
We do need to pull ourselves together. I've found that younger people are not being taught many things that they should be taught, and even that they are but the peer group pressure is helping pull them away from such social niceties as shaking hands with the right hand, removing a glove when doing so, greeting someone at their job or even saying thank you.
One of my black belts, Bruce Meyer, was in the grocery store and spent his hard-earned money. The young cashier didn't even acknowledge him and just dumped his change in his hand. Bruce had enough. He said, "I spend my money here a few times a week and you can't even say "Thank you". The kid says "Sorry". Bruce replied, "If you say "thank you" more often. you'll say "I'm sorry" less often." The people in line behind him applauded.
I could go on and on. Most likely if you're reading this you're a martial artist. Part of our "job description" is to educate others, instill discipline, and be a role model. Apply this to your young students. Teach them to look in the eyes and use a good grip when shaking hands. Teach them about respect. Tell the boys that when a girl says No it means No. Advise the young women that they do not have to put up with being referred to as "slut", "bitch" or "ho". If we don't, who will? Seems lots of parents and teachers aren't. Most are trying but it's tough and they need our help.
Got get 'em.