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You know, I'm probably going to get lynched for publishing this. But they say, above all else to thine own self be true. So, here it goes.
I blame the teachers for the vast majority of school shootings in the U.S. They run the schools and in many cases they are the worst bullies of all. So, just like I don't blame the pit bull, but rather I blame the pit bull owner whenever there is an unjustified attack by one of the breed, I don't blame the guns and I don't tend to blame the children either whenever there is a school shooting. Although I know the FBI clearly dropped the ball and should have stopped the last couple of high-profile incidents, I usually suspect the teachers and possibly the home life that seem to brew these tragedies.
I mean, compared to schools, how many teenagers open fire in other typical youth stomping grounds like malls, movie theaters, etc.? When was the last time a kid shot up an amusement park? Let's also remember that Pink Floyd's Another Brick in the Wall isn't one of the most iconic songs of the 20th century for no reason...
And to be clear, I don't blame all the teachers, just most of them. There were a few good ones when I was being misedumicated. But, that being said, I do worry that things have only gotten worse in that regard in America since I escaped from high school John Carpenter-style in 2002.
When I finally made it out, I felt like Snake Plissken, only minus the raspy voice and the eye patch and plus a hall pass. Make no mistake about it, I'd rather spend another 13 years in prison than repeat the American K-12 experience. And I'm not alone.
Neither am I maladjusted. I've had a successful career as a senior systems engineer at a publicly-traded tech company earning a very respectable salary. Now, my writing is published by some of the largest political outlets on both sides of the aisle. I'm happily married even through over 2 years of wrongful incarceration, and I advocate for the abused, putting myself in harm's way to defend them.
In fact, I'm locked up for helping to save an innocent child's life from associate professors run amok at a Harvard pediatric teaching hospital of all places:
But as I reflect back through the trauma of the American education system, it's scary to think about how my life could have turned out without outlets like martial arts, wrestling, and some well-deserved pranks. It's also tragic thinking about many of the kids whom I saw get lost along the way. If you've never read the Hacker's Manifesto, here's something that many people in my field know all to well from their own personal experiences: nobody hates a smart child like a dumb teacher. And, like me, you probably remember at least one kid on the other side who basically had the Full Metal Jacket Private Pyle experience through school.
So, I must respectfully disagree with President Trump about arming America's teachers. Far too many of them are on too much of a power trip as it is and they are already equipped to do far too much damage with just chalk and a blackboard (not to mention, in Boston, they command an average yearly salary of nearly $90,000 and 11 weeks of built in vacation to boot.) Further, while the vast majority of the few good teachers I had were light hearted and humorous, one of the hallmarks of bad teachers is that they take themselves too seriously. Letting them strap on a sidearm so they can roam the halls with delusions of being some kind of John Wayne with elbow patches only seems like it will make things worse in that regard.
And trying to take guns away from the rest of us won't work either.
Marty Gottesfeld is an Obama-era political prisoner and Republican Senate candidate against incumbent Elizabeth Warren. You can donate to his legal defense fund at FreeMartyG.com or to his political campaign at VoteMartyG.com.
