I know the some of the cats that are responsible for this project, and it is entirely a labor of love. They know the subject and have done their damnedest to make sure everything is legal. This is the sort of project that the music industry should laud, and use for favorable pr.
Unpleasant Reality... For the most part I agree with the sentiment expressed here and Jon Katz is addressing a important issue. However, at the same time he has associated the alienation of youth in the American educational system with the acts of two mentally imbalanced individuals. This association is not one that is beneficial for it only heightens the fears of school admins who are already acting with callus ignorance. In addition several other point need to be addressed. 1:) There is a blatant defense of individualism here that I agree with in principle. A collection of mindless office workers is not what our school system should produce. BUT, one key benefit of school is to force different groups of people to interact. It is absolutely critical to develop the interpersonal skill necessary to function in our society. If a person cannot interact with those that are not in their own group it will limit them later in life. The school should prevent abuse and promote acceptance but should also force people to interact. This applies to all social groups, both the athletes and the various subcultures. The internet is a wonderful resource and provides radical new ways of interacting with others but direct human contact still is what is required. 2:) The idea of Jon Katz to provide these posts to major media has potentially negative consequences. What would say the odds are that the spin they put on this one involves a mixing of well thought out posts with ones they grabbed that more or less say "yeah... I understand them... I want to kill people to..." This reflects to the original concern that this entire event will only cause more abuse. 3:) These two people were not mentally balanced. Had they been popular jocks they would have most likely caused problems for the school though perhaps in not such a drastic way.
Slashdot Mirror
I know the some of the cats that are responsible for this project, and it is entirely a labor of love. They know the subject and have done their damnedest to make sure everything is legal. This is the sort of project that the music industry should laud, and use for favorable pr.
Unpleasant Reality...
For the most part I agree with the sentiment expressed here and Jon Katz is addressing a important issue. However, at the same time he has associated the alienation of youth in the American educational system with the acts of two mentally imbalanced individuals. This association is not one that is beneficial for it only heightens the fears of school admins who are already acting with callus ignorance. In addition several other point need to be addressed.
1:) There is a blatant defense of individualism here that I agree with in principle. A collection of mindless office workers is not what our school system should produce. BUT, one key benefit of school is to force different groups of people to interact. It is absolutely critical to develop the interpersonal skill necessary to function in our society. If a person cannot interact with those that are not in their own group it will limit them later in life. The school should prevent abuse and promote acceptance but should also force people to interact. This applies to all social groups, both the athletes and the various subcultures. The internet is a wonderful resource and provides radical new ways of interacting with others but direct human contact still is what is required.
2:) The idea of Jon Katz to provide these posts to major media has potentially negative consequences. What would say the odds are that the spin they put on this one involves a mixing of well thought out posts with ones they grabbed that more or less say "yeah... I understand them... I want to kill people to..." This reflects to the original concern that this entire event will only cause more abuse.
3:) These two people were not mentally balanced. Had they been popular jocks they would have most likely caused problems for the school though perhaps in not such a drastic way.