"On Killing"....

[sgtmac_46]

That's true, and had the Columbine killers had any parental oversight, their actions to date before the massacre would have landed them in 24/7 surveillance and they would not have been allowed anywhere unescorted or allowed to possess so much as a rubber band gun.

However, going too far the other way likewise encourages rebellion. Both underdisciplining and overdisciplining are dangerous and cause a loss of respect for authority. Many (not speaking of you, or anyone else here) like to quote Biblical Scripture on parent's rights and yet ignore the Biblical commandment "Fathers provoketh not your child to wrath". Of course, this doesn't mean buy your kid an X-Box if he's acting like a little snot, but it does mean not throwing the book at him or her for every minor offense or overpunishing.

It is important to note that all but TWO of the students at Columbine were victims. Many demagogues have taken this to mean that all teens are potential killers just waiting for a chance to strike. Certainly, as an adult I would hate to be treated so just because a disgruntled adult employee went postal somewhere.

On edit: probably a little more than two as I believe that there were others who were either directly involved or had previous knowledge of what the two killers planned.

In the case of raising children, a child should be treated based on his or her actions. There should be consequences for negative behavior and reward for positive behavior. The more severe the negative behavior, the more severe the consequences. However, those consequences have to be sure, they have to be immediate as possible, and they have to be severe enough to be seen as undesireable on the part of the child.

 

[CuongNhuka]

You guys are getting my point, if you get involved, peer persure is no were neer as bad as it could be. Reward and punishment. I have a freind who skipped classes alot, her parents got involved and now she doesn't do it any more. What did her parents do? She was forced into getting a job. Sounds pretty easy, right? Wrong. If she skipps any class, any at all, for any reason, she losses her paycheck. So she works for 20 hours dealing with, well she works at a resturant so figure it out, and if she skipps any class, she loses all her money.
Not to hard, but not to easy. And Sara is good girl, and she doesn't skipp anymore. Peer presure is mostly an excuse for bad parenting. It does happen and some good kids with involved parents go bad, but it's ALOT less. Almost never from what I have seen.

Sweet Brighit Bless your Blade,

John

 

[sgtmac_46]

You guys are getting my point, if you get involved, peer persure is no were neer as bad as it could be. Reward and punishment. I have a freind who skipped classes alot, her parents got involved and now she doesn't do it any more. What did her parents do? She was forced into getting a job. Sounds pretty easy, right? Wrong. If she skipps any class, any at all, for any reason, she losses her paycheck. So she works for 20 hours dealing with, well she works at a resturant so figure it out, and if she skipps any class, she loses all her money.
Not to hard, but not to easy. And Sara is good girl, and she doesn't skipp anymore. Peer presure is mostly an excuse for bad parenting. It does happen and some good kids with involved parents go bad, but it's ALOT less. Almost never from what I have seen.

Sweet Brighit Bless your Blade,

John

Exactly. The teenage years are formulative years. You can either instill the values you want in to your children, or someone else will. Peer pressure is simply other teenagers instilling their values in your child, in the vaccum created by inadequate parenting.

 

[Jonathan Randall]

You guys are getting my point, if you get involved, peer persure is no were neer as bad as it could be. Reward and punishment. I have a freind who skipped classes alot, her parents got involved and now she doesn't do it any more. What did her parents do? She was forced into getting a job. Sounds pretty easy, right? Wrong. If she skipps any class, any at all, for any reason, she losses her paycheck. So she works for 20 hours dealing with, well she works at a resturant so figure it out, and if she skipps any class, she loses all her money.
Not to hard, but not to easy. And Sara is good girl, and she doesn't skipp anymore. Peer presure is mostly an excuse for bad parenting. It does happen and some good kids with involved parents go bad, but it's ALOT less. Almost never from what I have seen.

Sweet Brighit Bless your Blade,

John

Good points and you come off as a very mature young man in your post.:asian:

At times like these, I'm glad I have a high reputation giving power.

 

[CuongNhuka]

"thanks Mr. Randal, gee wiz i shure appreciate it" (in the voice of the beaver)(lol)

Anyways. I do appericiate it. And for that matter, so does my reputation. 219 posts, and 398 reputation. O.k. not that cool, but still. I feel like saying it. and I'll leave the mature comment alone, all a matter of oppoin.

Sweet Brighit Bless your Blade,

John

 

[Taiji Rebel]

Picked this book up a number of years ago in a charity store. The face of the woman at the till was a real picture. She was chatty and smiling, friendly and helpful, until the minute she noticed the book's title and her whole demeanour changed - in a split second I was given a totally different look and level of service

Reading the book opened my eyes to new ways of seeing the world. It reminded me of my old American Studies tutor and our discussions on the prevalence of violence in American culture. On Killing raises lots of interesting points as to why this kind of violence is on the increase. It also shows how the military have employed different methodologies over the years to get their troops to kill the enemy - psychological techniques are required to create soldiers who are willing to kill

This book will definitely appeal to the thoughtful martial artists out there!

All in all, a great book

 

[Buka]

I agree. I really enjoyed Grossman's books, he covers a lot of ground.

 

[Brian King]

The audible version of his books are also very good.
Brian

 

[Buka]

The audible version of his books are also very good.
Brian

I've never listened to them, didn't realize they were in existence. Damn it, Brian, there goes Saturdays.