Between this week's NYMag article about Horace Mann and this terrifying story, I'm beginning to wonder about a paradigm shift in (a) the idea of respect and who gets it and who gives it and (b) a breakdown in the myth of a cohesive American value system which has very far reaching implications not just for social policies but education, the economy, foreign policy and diplomacy (or lack thereof), etc.

Maybe our myths have caught up with us.

Maybe it's the war...video games...Columbine...bad parenting...bad education policy...bad internet...bad government...a culture of fear and selfishness...

I have no idea.

But we need to fucking figure this out. Because despite the differences between the issues at Center Elementary in Waycross, GA and Horace Mann in NYC, these are not freak occurrences, and I think they are somewhat related.
And it scares me - as a citizen, a student and a future professor.

Hillary? Barack? John? Are you listening? Or are you on the phone...at 3AM?