The recent threads on violence and tolerance have prompted me to post my long dissertation on the subject. Bear with me, I might be rambly. ;-}

Recently, at our school, there was a simulation put on in the dining hall of an armed abduction. Trouble was, there was a glitch somewhere in the system and the campus was never actually *notified* that this would be taking place. Oops. So, naturally, people were very upset about the whole thing, scared, frightened, and all. Many references were drawn to Columbine, and suchlike funstuff.

But, then, there were other factors. First off, this was by no means the first time this has been done at this school. It's done every two years. Secondly, the "abductors" were recognizable students. Thirdly, the "guns" were obviously fake, plastic or wooden replicas.

There was tremendous outcry about this. I get calls form people's parents, asking if the students involved are being prosecuted.

Meanwhile, on another front, a student here wrote an article for the campus newspaper for Valentine's Day about men; specifically, she talked about their "uses" and such. It was totally tongue-in-cheek. There are *still* several letters per week in the paper demanding a retraction of the article, and she receives phone calls complaining about it. The editor-in-chief of the paper wrote an editorial for tihs week stating that there would *not* be a retraction.

Similarly, earlier than that, there was an article written by someone else talking about solving overpopulation and hunger at the same time by eating the old. It was a very amusing piece, and *obviously* satirical. Yet, again, angry letters poured in demanding a retraction.

My point here is that people need to develop a sense of humour. Collectively, individually. I agree, some of the things said in the articles were a bit harsh, and the demonstration was in bad taste (and *certainly* should have been better advertised). But none of these instances merited the responses they got. People need to get over themselves.