Parkland survivor David Hogg spoke to students Oak Hill Middle School this week, Wicked Local Newton reports.
Hogg was also at Newton North last month. Here’s the video from that appearance.
Parkland survivor David Hogg talks to Newton students
by Village 14 | Mar 30, 2019 | Newton | 23 comments
If Newton Public Schools are going to continue to feature David Hogg, how about a speaker who knows what happened in Parkland, Fla.: the failure of law enforcement on every level. The FBI received two specific, credible warnings about the Parkland shooter. It did nothing. The Broward County Sheriff’s Office received dozens of warnings — including one from the shooter himself. It did nothing to stop him from obtaining weapons. At least one and perhaps as many as four deputies were armed and present during the shooting. No deputy entered the school to confront the gunman. And there’s more.
I’ll secure such a speaker. I invite anyone from NPS to use this blog to let me know.
I’m pleased that David Hogg and other students from schools where these senseless killings have taken place are continuing to express their convictions and emotions. I went to the Hyde School and Weeks Junior High during the late 40s and early 50s and it never crossed my mind that anyone (student or otherwise) would attempt to shoot up our schools or classrooms. Now, many people are becoming somewhat resigned to it happening again.
I’m over 80 now and the death of close friends and associates has become a frequent visitor in recent years. I’m not surprised or shocked when I learn that another one has passed away.
Acceptance wasn’t always so easy. During the early 50s, one of my closest friends died suddenly of heart failure. We were in 7th grade at the time and the two of us would collaborate on book reports and classroom presentations. His death devastated me and to this day I think of him every time I drive by the house where he lived in Newton Highlands. This was just one death and a non violent one at that.
I can only imagine the deep and impenetrable loss that David Hogg and all the others will continue to experience for the rest of their lives. These emotions never go away entirely, but talking openly about it can only help.
Democrat-tool David Hogg fails to mention that the Broward County sheriff’s office received and disregarded a call in 2016 and another in 2017 warning that suspect Nikolas Cruz, now 20, was a potential school shooter. Hogg fails to mention that Deputies also had about 20 contacts with Cruz as a juvenile. Hogg fails to mention that Broward County Sheriff Israel
earlier changed his office’s policy to say deputies “may” confront active shooters instead of “shall,” giving deputies an excuse for not charging the school. Hogg fails to mention that after taking office, Sheriff Israel’s department’s active shooter training had been determined by a Florida Commission to be not effective.
The shooter was handed to the Broward County Sheriff’s office and the FBI on a silver platter multiple times. There were tips that specifically mentioned school shootings. There were threats made by the shooter, which again, specifically mentioned school shootings.
There were calls about violence, including the shooter putting guns to people’s heads. Deputies visited many times after concerned friends, family, and strangers called. The suspect once called the police on himself!
Also, the FBI detailed to Congress a series of mistakes and missed opportunities to intervene before the gunman killed the 17 people at the Florida high school; and that two tips the FBI received about shooting suspect Nikolas Cruz, in September 2017 and January 2018, were mishandled, including one in which a FBI call taker “did not ask any standard investigative probing questions.” The 2018 call taker was able to connect Cruz to the earlier call about a threatening YouTube comment, but after discussing it with a supervisor, they decided not to pursue the matter and the case was closed.
So, the chairmen of two Congressional committees said that “despite multiple opportunities, the FBI did not share information with state and local authorities” about Nikolas Cruz.
Blame those Government failures, not lawful gun owners.
Is there a possibility of creating an “ignore user” button for this forum?
Maybe one that would send a message to said user, informing him that he’s being ignored, just in case he can’t take a hint.
@Michael — I love the idea of an “ignore” button. Had I that option, I would visit the site more often, without interfering with the trolls’ needs to express themselves.
Michael & John White, is it the implication from your comments that anyone who questions who is behind or challenges David Hogg, is a troll, or anyone who disagrees with the Newton Public School liberal mantra a troll?
There a number of Newtonites, as well as others, who disagree with the NPS repeatedly inviting Mr. Hogg to convey his make-guns-illegal position, especially when the underlying fault for the Parkland tragedy lies with malfeasance of Federal and County law enforcement.
Also, I don’t think that the “like” button has proven itself to be meaningful.
Some users, desperate for acknowledgement, hit the “like” button on their own comments a half-dozen times or more, so what’s the point of displaying that?
Just a thought.
Michael, so it appears that not only do you wish to have Village 14 facilitate blocking of any positions with which you disagree, but you also propose eliminating the “like” button, for instance, on my first posting on this thread which received 6 like votes, since you disagree with what is said there.
I’m (still) working part time in the NPS. During a recent fire drill, as I watched the students lined up in their assigned spots, my heart went into my mouth. A simple fire drill is cause for anxiety in the school. When we returned to the building, another teacher mentioned feeling tense during the drill.
I don’t care about the failings of the authorities during one school shooting in another state. They have become so common that students and adults in “safe” schools where procedures are in place and followed carefully feel anxiety about the possibility when going about the experiences of an ordinary day. It shouldn’t be this way, and as Bob pointed out, it didn’t used to be this way.
I’d favor an “ignore” button if it were an option.
@Jim – there are plenty of shootings where no warnings were disregarded by law enforcement (who are hardly trained in these areas, but that’s just as a side. Plenty of kids have run ins with police and they never go shot anybody).
Regardless – David’s personal experience made him an activist, but his work is not about Parkland, it’s about the next incident. What specifically do you object to? Because he is not asking for all guns to be made illegal.
You want assault weapons in the hands of civilians? High bullets magazines? You want background check loop holes stay open or do you argue that there aren’t any? Is there no need for a discussion which mental illnesses should make it impossible to own a gun? No room to consider raising the minimum federal age of gun ownership and possession to 21? No changes to be made to increased spending for mental health care programs (which could be financed with a gun tax?)
I would also like to add that your polemic way of phrasing things in general and here (“Democrat-tool David Hogg”) makes any argument you make inflammatory, and much less likely to be considered. I wonder whether you are really trying to engage your fellow Newtonites in a dialogue of whether you are just trying to agitate. And calling him the above is insulting to David, his experience and activism.
Jane Frantz, I find that people who like such things as “ignore buttons” prefer to live in a “bubble” of like-minded views, rather than exposing them to the cross-flow of differing views and ideas (so long as they are presented respectfully) which is one of the missions of Village 14.
It would seem that if you are truly concerned about the safety of students, you PRECISELY would be concerned about failings and successes of authorities, and measures such that gross and repeated malfeasance of federal and Broward County officials at Parkland are not repeated.
On the issue of “they have become common” and resulting “anxiety”, according to essentially all sources on the subject, including NPR, the numbers are declining, not growing, and students face a statistically greater risk of being struck by lightning than being shot and killed in their classrooms. According to statistics taken in 2018, an average of 17 people are killed every year in school shootings from the last 5 years. There are 50.76 million secondary to post-secondary school age children. That is about a 0.000033% chance, or 1 in 2.99 million of any given child being killed in any given year in a school shooting. So “anxiety” need not be compounded.
The BU online newsletter just published a very good Q&A piece with a local researcher. It’s mostly focused on reducing the overall death rate from guns. The main recommendations are universal background checks, prohibition of gun purchase or possession for all violent offenders, and giving authorities the power to prohibit gun possession by other high-risk individuals. The research under discussion does not find strong effects for assault-weapons bans, because it focuses on the overall murder rate rather than mass killings.
http://www.bu.edu/today/2019/state-gun-laws-that-reduce-gun-deaths/
Patricia, what I directed to Jane would apply to your comment as well. My use of the term “Democrat tool” is shorthand for the fact that (1) officials and office holders with the Democrat Party (including Democrat connected, supporting and funding organizations and Democrat leaning celebrities and corporations) are factually behind the funding, organizing and travel in connection with David Hogg’s March for Our Lives, and (2) public schools — most especially in Newton — having become entities for imparting support for Democrats and liberal thought and disdain for Republicans and conservative thought, including outlaw of (not merely regulating) guns as part of that agenda, are directing their ‘teaching’ to young impressionable minds not exposed to the other side and context.
John White, I’d certainly concur with fully functional background checks. Hogg and many Democrats speak of and prefer simply outlawing guns.
I oppose censorship and encourage people to embrace freedom of speech.
@Jim–Your comments about this brave young man are completely out of line. I’m not going to engage with you in a debate about Parkland. Suffice it to say we disagree on just about every relevant point. But referring to a shooting survivor as a “tool” is really crossing the line. Just my opinion.
@Mike Striar – An “ignore user” button is in no way censorship or a violation of freedom of speech, but rather a sensible way for individual users to manage social media.
I agree with you wholeheartedly about David Hogg, an admirable young man who is trying to make the world a better place. His views on gun control are utterly reasonable, and are in fact nearly identical to those mentioned in my previous post. This is all well-documented on his Wikipedia page.
At least bring back the thumbs down button that they used to have.
Mike, of course you state “[You’re] not going to engage with [me] in a debate about Parkland” and “Suffice it to say we disagree on just about every relevant point.”
So what “suffices” for you (and respectfully most liberals I encounter) is NEVER EVER to debate a substantive point. With respect, your reply fits the mold. (And I wouldn’t totally rely on Wikipedia, which leaves much anti-liberal points out.)
Finally, in your taking umbrage on my characterization of Mr. Hogg, you elect to use words such as “brave” and “young” to describe him. I’ll concur with “young” but words such as “opportunistic” and “insufferable” seem more apt. As far as “tool”, why would you think Newton Public School Administrators repeatedly invited Hogg? For promoting safety, or for promoting the Department’s liberal (anti-conservative) agenda?
And John, how would that “ignore user button” work? Every time my name would otherwise appear, your internet would automatically delete it/my comment before you see it or my comment (I don’t think such particularized application is yet available), or, as is already provided, you can simply scroll down skipping it. Or, are you suggesting that Village 14 simply ban me from the site?
Jim, it would have certainly been possible to disagree with David Hogg without calling him a Democrat tool.
For the record, I’ve never heard Hogg speak of “outlawing guns” which implies ALL guns. I believe he has advocated outlawing assault weapons, which as you probably know where subject to restrictions just a few years ago. He has also advocated a ban on high capacity magazines, better background checks, better mental health restrictions on gun ownership, a higher tax on gun ownership (around 10%), and raise the minimum age of gun ownership to 21.
There is a lot to discuss in his proposals, and I’ve got friends who would disagree strongly with them, even if I don’t. But I’m pretty sure you’d be better served by focusing on the response vs. David Hogg personally, even if you do not like the fact that he is now an advocate based on his experiences.
As for the ignore button, I don’t agree with that at all. I like reading opposing opinions, and even if I seldom agree with Jim, I’d prefer to consider his points and judge for myself, and also to hear his responses.
But no reason why we all can’t work on civility, myself included.
Fig – It’s not likely to be technologically possible, but I don’t think anyone’s intent was to remove posts. It appeared to me that people were expressing displeasure that one voice had become dominant in recent months. I too enjoy reading the full spectrum of perspectives and it’s the rare individual whom I would block. Calling a survivor of a school shooting a “tool” crossed a line and I don’t see that language as expressing a different perspective or opinion.
V14 often goes through periods where it goes beyond edgy. At a point in time when we’ve lost our local media, this is a place to find out what’s going on around the city (Jerry keeps us well informed!).
Hi Jane:
I’m familiar with an “ignore” feature, but I’m fine with leaving things as is. Just my own take.
The loss of the Tab as a functioning paper is very upsetting. I find myself relying on City Council newsletters, mayor emails, and this blog. Which is nuts for a city of our size.
No public forum is ever perfect.
Jane, since you raise that the word “tool” in connection with David Hogg crosses a line, I suggest that you google the words “David Hogg” and “tool” — and read the entries. While they certainly do “express a different perspective or opinion” from yours, you do say you “enjoy reading the full spectrum of perspectives.” Or perhaps you don’t. Or perhaps you don’t like that “one voice” is not fawning of Mr. Hogg — which one voice you apparently feel is now “dominant” and causing displeasure.
Should Village 14 go back to the 99% consistent liberal mantra and what essentially would be censorship, or engage the readers and posters in lively discourse covering “the full spectrum of perspectives” which you say you “enjoy reading”?