Again Tradgedy Strikes Finland - Flags at Half Mast

[Siobhra]

The first thing they have to do is STOP releasing the names of attackers. Most of them are doing the mass killing for the fame. Billions of people over the years have come and gone from this world. And we know of only a few by name.

Look at history and you will see that most if not all of the ones remembered were the great or worse. So if you want to be known by a large part of the world for a long time you must do something really great or really bad.

And with the mass school killings lately can any of you give me so much as the name of even one of the victims? (without look it up) But I am willing to bet a lot of you can give the name of one of the killers.

We feel sorrow and pity for the killers. We "rise above hate and forgive". Then we reward the killers and punish the victims more.

Second thing is we have to replace the name with insulting name. Joke about how big a loser he was in life. Take the glory out of it. This may not sound like a civilized thing to do but it will save lives.

[cccamper]

Dear Heikki,
Prayers for your country, family & friends, and all the deceased. It's stunning, is it not? Like when over 30 were killed at Virginia Tech. How can it be? All these young people getting up in the morning, plans for the future and now they are silent.

The one "good" that can come of these horrors is to remind us how uncertain life is and how short it can be. This might bring some to be more respectful of others and more openly appreciative of those close to them.

I cannot imagine my son, Seth, being one of those students.

elizabeth and Robert

[angib]

As soon as I saw this news, I thought of you, Heikki. In such a small country, suffering two of these events is terrible.

I'll be the odd man out here and say that my sympathies also go to the police officer that OK'd the shooter the day before - that guy is going to sleep no better tonight than the families of the victims and it will hang over her/him for ever.

Andrew

[Miriam C.]

The first thing they have to do is STOP releasing the names of attackers. Most of them are doing the mass killing for the fame. Billions of people over the years have come and gone from this world. And we know of only a few by name.

Look at history and you will see that most if not all of the ones remembered were the great or worse. So if you want to be known by a large part of the world for a long time you must do something really great or really bad.

And with the mass school killings lately can any of you give me so much as the name of even one of the victims? (without look it up) But I am willing to bet a lot of you can give the name of one of the killers.

We feel sorrow and pity for the killers. We "rise above hate and forgive". Then we reward the killers and punish the victims more.

Second thing is we have to replace the name with insulting name. Joke about how big a loser he was in life. Take the glory out of it. This may not sound like a civilized thing to do but it will save lives.

Way back in the late 60's early 70's There was a consensus that mass suicides not be publicized to keep from "causing" more suicides. It worked---I think. Seems the publicity was making martyrs and encouraging the behavior out of teens who normally would have just acted out.

[Classic Finn]

Its not over. Nightmare continues.

100,s of mobile phone threats have been made in the past few days. Some arrests have been made from these threats. In Sweden also an arrest has been made due to threats as well. Swedish Local News in English below.

http://www.thelocal.se/14568/20080925/

Also another school has been closed for security reasons as well as students scared to go to school here. Including my own. This has now affected us more than what we thought.

This is the scene at evening and night hours in almost all of Finland. Even though this photo is from The School in Kauhajoki. We can see almost every house with lit Candles last night and now at present. Including ours.




Here,s the latest:


Finland Fears Copycat Attacks, Sweden Arrests Teen
AP POSTED: September 25, 2008 Save
"Finland Fears Copycat Attacks, Sweden Arrests Teen"





Candles are seen lit near the Kauhajoki vocational high school in Kauhajoki, western Finland, on Wednesday. AP Photo KAUHAJOKI, Finland (AP) — Finland could face more copycat school shootings, the country’s police chief warned today as investigators probed a growing list of eerie similarities between two deadly rampages in less than a year.

Police Commissioner Mikko Paatero told Finnish MTV3 that police would increase their monitoring of YouTube and other Internet sites where the gunmen in both shootings posted clips foreshadowing the attacks.

On Tuesday, 22-year-old Matti Saari killed 10 people before shooting himself in a fiery massacre at his vocational college in western Finland.

In November, 18-year-old Pekka-Eric Auvinen fatally shot eight people and himself at his school in southern Finland.

Asked whether he thought the attacks would inspire more school shootings, Paatero said ‘‘I badly fear it’s possible.’’

In neighboring Sweden, police arrested a 16-year-old-boy for illegal weapon possession after receiving a tip about a suspicious clip he had posted on YouTube.

Police raided the teen’s home in Koping, central Sweden, after seeing the YouTube clip, according to police spokesman Borje Stromberg.

He couldn’t immediately confirm the contents of the clip.

Swedish police urged people to report any offensive, threatening or criminal material they find on the Internet.

‘‘There may also be reasons to inform police about material on the Internet that can be seen as warning signals of planned crimes,’’ national police said Thursday on its Web site.

In Finland, investigators said Auvinen and Saari likely bought their guns at the same place and could even have been in contact with each other.

‘‘Their actions seems so similar that I would consider it a miracle if we did not find some connecting link,’’ Jari Neulaniemi was quoted as telling the Finnish news agency STT.

Both gunmen posted violent clips on YouTube before the shootings, both were fascinated by the 1999 Columbine school shootings in Colorado, both attacked their own schools and both died after shooting themselves in the head.

The government pledged to tighten Finland’s gun laws and keep mentally unstable people from obtaining firearms after Saari’s rampage at the Kauhajoki School of Hospitality, 180 miles (290 kilometers) northwest of Helsinki.

Interior Minister Anne Holmlund said the government was working on a proposal to restrict gun laws by giving police greater powers to examine gun applicants’ health records.

Saari acquired a permit for his weapon in August, police said.

Finland has deeply held hunting traditions and ranks — along with the United States — among the top five nations when it comes to civilian gun ownership.

After the previous massacre, the government had pledged to raise the age for buying a gun from 15 to 18 but never did so.

The government also called for an investigation into police handling of the case. After an anonymous tip, police had questioned Saari on Monday about YouTube clips that showed him firing a handgun.

[Classic Finn]

As soon as I saw this news, I thought of you, Heikki. In such a small country, suffering two of these events is terrible.

I'll be the odd man out here and say that my sympathies also go to the police officer that OK'd the shooter the day before - that guy is going to sleep no better tonight than the families of the victims and it will hang over her/him for ever.

Andrew

Dear Andrew

The policeman that Ok,d the shooter is now under full investigation demanded by majority of people here. Im sure he doesnt sleep well but then again neither does anyone else including our family at the moment.

[Classic Finn]

Parents and teachers face hard questions from children after Kauhajoki tragedy
Psychologists advise parents to discuss events openly with children


The events in Kauhajoki were the subject of discussion in many classrooms and morning assemblies at schools around Finland. In Helsinki, the city’s Education Department sent instructions to schools on how to discuss the events with both younger and older pupils.
At the Kaisaniemi Primary School, the first hour of the school day on Wednesday was set aside for discussing the events, answering questions, and expressing emotions.
“The children have asked if this could happen in our class, and anywhere. The events of Jokela came back to even the younger pupils”, said head teacher Marjatta Salonen.
Some of the youngest had not heard of the shooting incident before the teacher told about it, but many parents taking their children to school had to answer questions about all the flags that were being flown at half staff.
At the Mannerheim League for Child Welfare, worried parents called in to ask for advice on how to discuss the matter with their children, and how to reassure their children that it is safe to go to school.

Mannerheim League psychologist Marie Rautava urges parents not to be afraid to deal with the questions. Listening to children and giving them time are important, even though there may not be answers to all of the questions that come up.
“When a child asks questions about why something like this happened, it is all right to say that nobody knows yet why this happened, and that it may be that no answer is ever found. If a child is afraid to go to school, it is good to say that the event was very unusual, and that it is extremely unlikely that it would be repeated at the child’s own school.”

It is important to be honest in the answers, but the child’s age also needs to be taken into consideration. If a small child does not ask about the events, or has not heard of them, there is no need to impose information on them.
“Especially small children will bring it up themselves, if they have heard about the events in some connection. Then it is possible to talk about the matter and to say that adults are also very sad about what happened. However, I would protect small children especially from the news, so that it would not be present all the time.”
A child can express anguish in ways other than talking. He or she might need the closeness of an adult, suffer from sleeplessness, or want to sleep next to a parent. Some deal with the matter in silence, but others may vocalise their reactions.
“There can be jokes about the matter, and black humour. Behaviour like this also needs to be permitted, as it is a way for the child to process the events, and to try to get some kind of understanding of what has happened.”

The events in Kauhajoki has also re-activated memories linked with the Jokela school killings, Rautava says.
“This event may be even more shocking now that the events of nearly a year ago are still in people’s memories”, Rautava says.
Salonen says that the children at the Kaisaniemi school were more calm this time than they were after the Jokela killings.
“Our youngest pupils have said ‘they were adults’. It is somehow easier for them to understand this than for something like that to happen at a comprehensive school”, Salonen says.
Kauhajoki is also further away from Helsinki than Jokela, both physically and psychologically.
In one class the large number of victims caused fear and confusion.
“Pupils in the sixth grade had discussed security precautions at the school themselves, including the locking of doors”, Salonen says.

Salonen adds that teachers were pleased with the detailed and concrete instructions, in which children were asked to tell where they were when they heard about the event. The school, for its part, sent parents a message detailing how the matter had been told them.
On its website, the Mannerheim League for Child Welfare has listed a number of instructions for parents on how to discuss violent news with their children.

[caseydog]

As soon as I saw this news, I thought of you, Heikki. In such a small country, suffering two of these events is terrible.

I'll be the odd man out here and say that my sympathies also go to the police officer that OK'd the shooter the day before - that guy is going to sleep no better tonight than the families of the victims and it will hang over her/him for ever.

Andrew

I thought of you too, Heikki, when I first saw the news. There will be plenty of people who are certain that they have the perfect answer to this kind of problem, but in all my years of seeing this kind of thing in America, I don't know how you stop a person who is bent on doing something insane from doing it. The unexpected is the toughest thing to prevent.

Don't let this event harden your heart. I'd rather live a good life as a potential victim, then hide behind steel doors and arm myself to the teeth just to feel safer.

And, I agree with Andrew that the officer who let him go will be second-guessing himself for the rest of his life, which may make some feel better, but not me.