# My Son The Mass Murderer **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 8, 2002, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-son-the-mass-murderer/135838 "2002-11-08T04:26:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Baldwin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baldwin/32/7264_2.png) [@Baldwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baldwin)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2002, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-son-the-mass-murderer/135838/41 "2002-11-08T23:01:20Z")
I don’t know anything about Asperger’s Syndrome, but I fail to see how punishment would be appropriate for any student for “making a laser sound”. Jesus Christ, how much control do school officials think they should have over students? I’d be happy if they could just get them to learn something. I remember, as a kid, suddenly realizing that some of the adults in charge at school were idiots. Guess I was right. ---
**Author:** ![Arden\_Ranger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b487fb/32.png) [@Arden\_Ranger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arden_Ranger)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2002, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-son-the-mass-murderer/135838/42 "2002-11-08T23:56:51Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by El Elvis Rojo \* > \*\* Shit, what do they expect kids to talk about at school? Math? And I’m really curious as to what they do in art class. > \*\* I got a phone call last year from the _school board psychologist_ who was concerned because Jr. Ranger II had drawn pictures of alien spacecraft firing on buildings. “We’re concerned that he may be displaying aggressive tendencies that could indicate future violence.” :rolleyes: Indeed it could. From me. Her head would have exploded if she could have seen the space battles and war zones my brothers, no respectable adults who never have been in a fight, used to create. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2002, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-son-the-mass-murderer/135838/43 "2002-11-09T01:07:25Z")
I cannot believe I mispelled _Asperger_. First, moving to a different city would not only be prohibitive both cost and job-wise, but the trauma would set my son back years. It takes him a long time to adjust to new social situations. Second, going to the principal and/or the press and raising a stink would not change school policy in todays climate, and again my son would be tramatized by the resultant publicity, both negative and positive. I satg down with him and told him that the only thing he did wrong was to accidently break a rule that only applies on school grounds, and that playing and using his imagination is nothing to be ashamed of. I also promised to get him the fanciest ray gun we can find at the dealers room at Orycon in two weeks. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Phoenix\_Dragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/65b543/32.png) [@Phoenix\_Dragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phoenix_Dragon)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2002, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-son-the-mass-murderer/135838/44 "2002-11-09T02:45:02Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by airdisc \* > **They don’t want to pay, they should have seen the signs of violence coming, and usually it’s pretty obvious.** Do you know how stupid that sounds? Because that’s exactly what’s been happening in schools. You’ve already been shown plenty of examples of it in this thread. The schools are trying to do just what you propose, and seriously fucking things up because of it. I mean, hell, any set of criteria that would have “caught” most of the school shooters so far would have “caught” me and almost all my friends (Which is, all things considered, terribly ironic). ---
**Author:** ![airdisc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e19adc/32.png) [@airdisc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/airdisc)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2002, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-son-the-mass-murderer/135838/45 "2002-11-09T03:13:17Z")
> [@](#): > > Do you know how stupid that sounds? Because that’s exactly what’s been happening in schools. You’ve already been shown plenty of examples of it in this thread. The schools are trying to do just what you propose, and seriously fucking things up because of it. I meant see the signs using a logical system, instead of the bullshit they use now. If they see kids getting picked on, they should stop the teasing, not suspend the kids getting picked on for God knows how long. ---
**Author:** ![Blackeyes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f6c823/32.png) [@Blackeyes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blackeyes)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2002, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-son-the-mass-murderer/135838/46 "2002-11-09T04:11:04Z")
No one my generation hates yours and your parent’s generations: they took away our fucking youth. ---
**Author:** ![Fenris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fenris/32/498_2.png) [@Fenris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fenris)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2002, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-son-the-mass-murderer/135838/47 "2002-11-09T04:49:47Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Blackeyes \* > \*\*No one my generation hates yours and your parent’s generations: they took away our fucking youth. \*\* Presumably the above should read “No **wonder** my generation…”. Assuming it does, :rolleyes: I weep for you. The youth in the '40s had Hitler, rationing, and the very real possiblity of pure evil winning. Their fathers went off to war and their mothers went off (for the first time) to work. They had no youth. The youth of the '50s had duck-and-cover and a very real prospect of thermonuclear armegeddon. Ever seen those “duck-and-cover” movies? They stressed that you _couldn’t_ be a child: you had to be responsible if you were going to live. The youth of the '60s had Viet Nam. You? You might not get pie for dinner. :rolleyes: and for that you “hate” the generations that came before you? Cry me a river. Fenris, who sincerly hopes that he wasn’t as angsty and whiney as this at that age. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2002, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-son-the-mass-murderer/135838/48 "2002-11-09T04:55:30Z")
What ever kind of syndrome your son has the teacher has assmunch syndrome. ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2002, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-son-the-mass-murderer/135838/49 "2002-11-09T06:13:26Z")
[hijack] Shooting lasers makes me think of a Wax Mannequin song: “Pick up the power blaster, you can be a Master, you can shoot the lasers like the heros on TV you can shoot them 1 by 1 or 1,2,3…” It’s a really great song, especially when he drags it out in concert for 20 minutes! So energetic! [/hijack] I say aim the power blaster at that teacher and the fuckwads messing around with the education your son needs, and then decide: 1 by 1, or 1,2,3… ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2002, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-son-the-mass-murderer/135838/50 "2002-11-09T14:12:13Z")
I truly think this zero tolerance thing has gotten out of hand. I wonder if that’s part of the problem? Children have no outlet at school anymore. They can’t run around playing cops and robbers, and hitting another child can get you arrested for assault instead of being suspended. Many (note I did not say all) children are misdiagnosed with ADD and drugged so they can sit still in class. Where did we lose the line between happy energetic childhood and over the top hyperactivity? Is it wrong for a child to defend himself against a bully instead of finding a teacher? (Hmmmm. Teaching a child to seek an authority figure for resolution instead of relying on him or herself.) **Czarcasm** , is home schooling an option? We’re considering it after realizing the reason my 8th grade son has very little homework is because they don’t have enough books to send home with each child. ---
**Author:** ![Tristan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tristan/32/18058_2.png) [@Tristan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tristan)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2002, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-son-the-mass-murderer/135838/51 "2002-11-09T14:38:28Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Fenris \* > \*\* > > You? You might not get pie for dinner. :rolleyes: and for that you “hate” the generations that came before you? > > Cry me a river. > > Fenris, who sincerly hopes that he wasn’t as angsty and whiney as this at that age. \*\* For what it’s worth, Fen old pal, we don’t hate you. But that attitude sucks. We had to deal with the advent of AIDs, the degredation of the Ozone, yough violence reaching epidemic proportions, the loss of family models due to Double Income family life, etc. etc. etc. All generations have their cross to bear. No generation has had it any easier, or harder, than the generation before or after it (with the possible exception of REALLY messed up times like the 1930’s.). ---
**Author:** ![whiterabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/cab0a1/32.png) [@whiterabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whiterabbit)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2002, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-son-the-mass-murderer/135838/52 "2002-11-09T14:55:06Z")
I have a friend who has Asperger’s. He can be quite difficult to deal with simply because he has NO ability to read or to give off appropriate social signals. A lot of our fellow music majors think he’s just weird. Well, yes, he IS weird, but he has reasons to be, though he doesn’t go around advertising the fact. Man, if I could get him a REAL laser gun, I’d send him after that teacher with it. I bet he’d love that. And I wonder what she’d think of the hours my friend Jennifer and I used to spend playing She-Ra back in elementary school. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![whiterabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/cab0a1/32.png) [@whiterabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whiterabbit)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2002, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-son-the-mass-murderer/135838/53 "2002-11-09T15:00:52Z")
I have a friend who has Asperger’s. He can be quite difficult to deal with simply because he has NO ability to read or to give off appropriate social signals. A lot of our fellow music majors think he’s just weird. Well, yes, he IS weird, but he has reasons to be, though he doesn’t go around advertising the fact. Man, if I could get him a REAL laser gun, I’d send him after that teacher with it. I bet he’d love that. And I wonder what she’d think of the hours my friend Jennifer and I used to spend playing She-Ra back in elementary school. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Fenris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fenris/32/498_2.png) [@Fenris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fenris)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2002, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-son-the-mass-murderer/135838/54 "2002-11-09T15:11:47Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Tristan \* > \*\* > All generations have their cross to bear. No generation has had it any easier, or harder, than the generation before or after it (with the possible exception of REALLY messed up times like the 1930’s.). \*\* Ok, That I’ll agree with. I was being facetious, 'cause the guy I was responding to was being a whiney snot and annoyed me. But you gotta admit that the “no pie for dinner” line was funny ('though inaccurate) 🙂 Femros ---
**Author:** ![Fenris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fenris/32/498_2.png) [@Fenris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fenris)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2002, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-son-the-mass-murderer/135838/55 "2002-11-09T15:13:09Z")
And people in MY generation, while trying to drink coffee and type one handed have the burden of not being able to sign their own name correctly! How 'bout THAT for angst-inducing trauma!? Fenris ---
**Author:** ![Blackeyes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f6c823/32.png) [@Blackeyes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blackeyes)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2002, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-son-the-mass-murderer/135838/56 "2002-11-09T17:53:01Z")
> [@](#): > > Presumably the above should read “No wonder my generation…”. :smack: :smack: :smack: :smack: :smack: :smack: :smack: :smack: :smack: UGH! :smack: :smack: :smack: :smack: :smack: :smack: And a thousand more :smack: s. Talk about screwing up your lines. A total embarrassmnet smilie is needed. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Blackeyes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f6c823/32.png) [@Blackeyes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blackeyes)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2002, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-son-the-mass-murderer/135838/57 "2002-11-09T18:00:13Z")
> [@](#): > > Presumably the above should read “No wonder my generation…”. :smack: :smack: :smack: :smack: :smack: :smack: :smack: :smack: :smack: UGH! :smack: :smack: :smack: :smack: :smack: :smack: And a thousand more :smack: s. Talk about screwing up your lines. A total embarrassmnet smilie is needed. ☹ > [@](#): > > Fenris, who sincerly hopes that he wasn’t as angsty and whiney as this at that age. I didn’t mean ME specifically. I just meant “my generation” as all the idiots who are in my generation. I love you guys, you guys are awesome. But you guys have mentioned, in this thread and in many others, how much stuff you got to do that kids today just can’t. The laser gun thing is one of them, and so is the chicken finger BANG BANG. Sorry I came off the way I did. ---
**Author:** ![Blackeyes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f6c823/32.png) [@Blackeyes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blackeyes)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2002, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-son-the-mass-murderer/135838/58 "2002-11-09T18:06:36Z")
Yes, the pie thing was funny. But “little snot”? Ouch. ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2002, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-son-the-mass-murderer/135838/59 "2002-11-09T18:24:56Z")
Hey, Czarcasm, I hope you and your son are OK. I suppose the knowledge that the world is full of assholes is a Valuable Life Lesson, but I think it’s one everyone learns without the people who are supposed to be on our side demonstrating it for us. I think I’ve said this before, but if rules like this had been in place when _I_ was a kid, I’d be serving a life sentence in some Maximum Security Institute for the Socially Disapproved Of. I was raised by liberals who didn’t exactly push gun toys on me, but I still had 'em–I remember this one white plastic ray gun with a bulgy end that lit up and made various noises. Then there was the white plastic ray gun with a flashlight in it and a square end that you could put little plastic cut-out slide thingies in, and supposedly project outlines of flying saucers on the wall. The batteries and assorted electronics didn’t last in either, but you could still point them and go _“Zap!”_ Plus, there were vast arsenals of improvised stuff. Me and my best friend used to imagine that our mechanical pencils were these super-functional ray guns that could do anything from make a nice cup of tea to blow up a planet. Then there were the imaginary awesomely powerful spaceships, bristling with lethal hardware. And I don’t even want to talk about the doodles of legions of little stick figures being bombed, strafed, zapped, and so on–I mean, maybe the Statute of Limitations hasn’t run out, and I might still get after-school detention or something. Anyway, Czarcasm (and all parents), hang in there, _encourage_ all your children to be playful and imaginative, and _Illegitimi non carborundum_. ---
**Author:** ![Skeezix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/839c29/32.png) [@Skeezix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skeezix)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2002, 8:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-son-the-mass-murderer/135838/60 "2002-11-10T08:10:46Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by **MEBuckner** _: > **Then there was the white plastic ray gun with a flashlight in it and a square end that you could put little plastic cut-out slide thingies in, and supposedly project outlines of flying saucers on the wall. The batteries and assorted electronics didn’t last in either, but you could still point them and go "Zap!"** Oh, **man**! My cousin and I used to play with those things for hours on end. I’ve been sitting here trying to recall the name of the thing, to absolutely no avail. Damn, did we get our parents’ moneys worth out of those. We scored big one christmas/birthday, and ended up with about 40 or 50 of those little plastic strips with the boogie-men targets. Three changes of batteries (each) later, we still had some left over. All I remember clearly was that one of the various target strips had these evil ent looking trees on them, which resulted in us making up some bizarre version of Tolkein’s stories, told from the point of view of the orcs. Imagination is indeed a silly thing. Fun and useful, as well, of course. Thanks for the flashback. 😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-son-the-mass-murderer/135838.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-son-the-mass-murderer/135838.md?page=4)