Murder Of 15 Year Old At A School In Aberdeen This Is Shocking.

[gordiescotland1]

I cant believe this has happened. A 15 year old boy has been murdered at a school in Aberdeen I am really shocked and saddened by this.
http://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/teenage-boy-who-was-stabbed-at-school-has-died/ar-BBmx3WL?li=AAaeUIW&ocid=mailsignoutmd

[-SharonA-]

Just as guns are the bane of American schools, it appears ours are knives.

[maggiebee]

Don't understand the mentality of knife carrying young people. Two families devastated and for what?

[Mamyalynne]

Truly awful , we send our children off to school believing they'll come home safe.

[Zacs-Master]

And the teachers too e.g. Ann McGuire.

[Mamyalynne]

Of course, quite right.

[EDDIE51]

If this was in the USA he would have used a gun and there would be a lot more than one dead.
Not much comfort I know , but let us be thankful for small mercies.

[jourdain2]

Ex-teacher; tough inner-city school. This sort of thing was always on the cards, there were so many incidents which stopped short of making headlines. I completely agree that is is a sad commentary on today's society.

As a teacher I have been faced with a 25 yr. old girl (high on glue) waving scissors at me and a 13-yr-old Pakistani lad (I knew his family were into drugs) pointing a gun at me..... it turned out to be a fake, but I didn't know that and I was protecting smaller children. That was the start of my withdrawal from teaching (OK, breakdown, long and drawn-out though it was) - and smashing my pension hopes to bits! It's all ended up OK (apart from the pension bit).

Seriously, this is what things are like in schools these days unless you are lucky. Of course I am saddened, but it is a societal fault and not that of the school. Teachers are forbidden to search children's bags these days (or they were when I left).

[jourdain2]

^^^ Should read '15 year-old girl' - oops.

[sherrardk]

This is very sad but not a surprise. I was in a situation, 12 years ago, of calming down a knife wielding thug who had his girlfriend (a pupil) cornered in the toilets whilst waiting for the police to arrive.

[anotheoldgit]

I refer you to 'This Green and Pleasant Land"

http://www.theanswerbank.co.uk/News/Question1452905.html

[anotheoldgit]

Was the Daily Mail right to, not only name the suspected killer but also show his photograph, seeing that he is only 16 years old?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3294761/Bailey-Gwynne-killed-Aberdeen-Cults-Academy-school-stabbing.html

[andy-hughes]

It is horrific.

It appears that some teenagers are sucked into the perverted notion that carrying a weapon instils 'respect' in their peer group - the line between the definitions of the words 'respect' and 'fear' are sadly blurred.

Of course, carrying a knife to create an image of toughness and so on can lead to a situation where the carrier is required to 'put up or shut up', and rather than lose face, they will actually use the knife they are carrying.

Without knowing any facts, I would be willing to bet that a variation of this set of circumstances has led to this tragedy.

We need to start teaching children to respect each other because it is the right thing to do, not because some possess the potential to hurt or kill if they don't.

[retrocop]

Mr aog
I believe the Mail were wrong to name and show the suspect arrested at this stage of the investigation. I believe it has potential to stymie a possible prosecution although Scottish procedures in law are different to Englands.
If he is proven guilty then let us see what we have to look out for in the future.
Remember the Mail spouting the names of the suspects in the Lawrence murder case. That certainly caused problems initially I seem to recall. Sub judice I believe.

[andy-hughes]

Further to my last post - it appears some teasing went on prior to the fatal attack - which again points to a teenager who has not managed to learn an appropriate response to such activity.

A terrible tragedy for everyone involved.

[retrocop]

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
If that is their suspect then they do not need to show the picture and say ,"anyone seeing this boy ring the police to help us with the enquiry" They already have him.

[andy-hughes]

retrocop - //I believe the Mail were wrong to name and show the suspect arrested at this stage of the investigation. //

I entirely agree.

At this stage, the child has not been charged, so printing his picture must necessarily prejudice the potential case against him.

The media need to be reminded of the 'innocent until proven guilty' principle which they appear to have ignored.

[ummmm]

He's not a child!

[anotheoldgit]

andy-hughes

/// Of course, carrying a knife to create an image of toughness and so on can lead to a situation where the carrier is required to 'put up or shut up', and rather than lose face, they will actually use the knife they are carrying. ///

According to reports, the teenager who allegedly stabbed and killed this young school boy, took offence at being called fat.

That was all it took to end one life and destroy another's life, to say nothing of the family's lives that have also been ruined.

/// We need to start teaching children to respect each other because it is the right thing to do, not because some possess the potential to hurt or kill if they
don't. ///

We once did, because I can remember when most lads carried a sheath knife on their belts, and we didn't stab anyone, the most damage we did with them was carving our initials on desk tops and upon trees.

[andy-hughes]

Ummm -

noun
noun: child; plural noun: children
a young human being below the age of puberty or below the legal age of majority.
schoolboy, schoolgirl, adolescent, teenager, youth, young man, young woman, young lady, young person, young adult, juvenile, minor, junior;
•an immature or irresponsible person.

I think by the definition here, that is exactly what he is.

[andy-hughes]

AOG - //We once did, because I can remember when most lads carried a sheath knife on their belts, and we didn't stab anyone, the most damage we did with them was carving our initials on desk tops and upon trees. //

I remember - I was one of them.

The notion of actually hurting someone with the (lethal!) knife I carried strapped to my person as a young teenager was so alien as to never have been considered.

Peer pressure is a dreadful concept.