Columbine

[Guest guest]

Trudy,

That is wonderful that Eleena was able to go to school and make modifications

in her day and not totally avoid. Sounds like she is truly " getting it. " My

son has also been struggling with what happened at Columbine and all the

other school shootings. His problem has always been school avoidance so I

consider it a great feat on his part that he was able to go in on most days

around the time these shooting happened. He did want to make one

modification.......to wear a bullet proof vest. It is such a sad situation

that our kids have to deal with these things now too. Needless to say, he

realized that this was an overreaction to the situation and that his OCD

thinking was playing a big part in wanting to wear the vest. He was able to

go in for his full schedule but I don't think he learned anything at all.

For him, it was a great accomplishment just to physically go into the

building.

I'm so happy to hear about Eleena's " baby steps. "

Noelle in NY

[Guest guest]

Trudy,

Actually my 2 daughters go to a small school here in Calif. The school had

several threats, whether real or not. I let them decide if they felt

comfortable going to school. Of course as a mother I am terrified and wanted

them home. My 18 yr daughter (no ocd) actually was the most frightened!

Because of her the ocd daughter decided to put this on paper and help her to

decide that they would be safe. Of course, once they talked

about it they became more frightened. Well they did stay home much to my

relief. I have found out this a.m. that 2 were arrested at the school this a.m.

I have no information, but probably just kids acting tough. Anyway, none of

their friends went today either. It has been a little scary that crazy ones

would scare so many children in schools. Good luck today, and as I told my

girls, we will stay home together today, not to be

afraid, but to really remember those fallen school children and their families.

Lori-ca

trudy p mcculloch wrote:

> Just curious, anybody else have problems last night or this morning

> because of the anniversary of the Columbine shooting? Eleena agreed to

> go to school today (I look at that as the only step of ERP that she

> would be willing to do), but I know that she's been planning escape

> routes from each of her classrooms for over a month. She's even walking

> different routes to her classes because she wants to be in what she

> considers less exposed, or safer hallways at school. She was originally

> going to wear a skirt with sandals today, but when she realized what

> today is, she decided to go with something that she could move (run) in

> easily to escape an insane killer. I feel so bad for her. I know that

> even kids without OCD are probably scared of a copycat shooter, but it's

> really tough for her. One of her OCs is avoiding almost all social

> situations for fear of something bad happening when she's out somewhere.

> I considered going to Prom a HUGE success for her. I'm extremely proud

> of her for agreeing to go to a school function tonight with a friend,

> despite her fear. She's extremely compulsive about not missing school,

> so I was pretty sure that she would agree to go, but going to an extra

> curricular activity on a day with such high anxiety is amazing.

> Granted, she's going to make sure that she's near the door so she can

> escape quickly if she needs to, but at least she's going. Baby steps,

> though I think this is a huge leap for her.

>

> Trudy in KC, MO

>

> ------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Enjoy the award-winning journalism of The New York Times with

> convenient home delivery. And for a limited time, get 50% off for the

> first 8 weeks by subscribing. Pay by credit card and receive an

> additional 4 weeks at this low introductory rate.

> 1/3101/3/_/531051/_/956234585/

> ------------------------------------------------------------------------

>

> You may subscribe to the OCD-L by emailing listserv@... . In the

body of your message write: subscribe OCD-L your name. The Archives and

Features List for the may be accessed by going to

, enter your email address and password, then point and

click. Subscription issues, problems, or suggestions may be addressed to Louis

Harkins, list owner, at harkins@... .

[Guest guest]

Hi:

Great for Eleena! Both my kids were very anxious about school this am. We

got a letter from the District Superintendent yesterday aimed at allaying

fears and dispelling rumors of Columbine anniversary incidents at school.

My older son was shot at school (by a BB gun toting junior) two weeks after

Columbine last year and so were 5 other kids. It was very hushed up and

the perp was expelled and assault charges were filed. He told me he was

scared when I dropped him off. His school reminded me of the security I

saw at the Northern Ireland airport. Only one access point, cops very

visible on the campus, and probably only 60% attendance by students.

Steve was extra upset because a gecko was trapped in my car and he had to

rescue it. He has probably been doing similar things to Eleena but not

mentioning them. He is having quite a major waxing episode right now

anyway without the extra Columbine stuff. Two kids in his class were

suspended yesterday for making Columbine-related remarks.

I will be very glad when this day is over and my kids are home safe and

their anxiety will go down. Would you mind if I shared your description of

Eleena (of course I will blank our her name) with Steve's 504 team so they

can get more understanding of the challenges our kids face? Please tell

Eleena I am very impressed with her bossing back OCD like this.

Hope you are not sorry you asked about Columbine. Thanks for letting me

vent. Take care, aloha, Kathy (H)

kathyh@...

At 07:42 AM 04/20/2000 -0500, you wrote:

>Just curious, anybody else have problems last night or this morning

>because of the anniversary of the Columbine shooting? Eleena agreed to

>go to school today (I look at that as the only step of ERP that she

>would be willing to do), but I know that she's been planning escape

>routes from each of her classrooms for over a month. She's even walking

>different routes to her classes because she wants to be in what she

>considers less exposed, or safer hallways at school. She was originally

>going to wear a skirt with sandals today, but when she realized what

>today is, she decided to go with something that she could move (run) in

>easily to escape an insane killer. I feel so bad for her. I know that

>even kids without OCD are probably scared of a copycat shooter, but it's

>really tough for her. One of her OCs is avoiding almost all social

>situations for fear of something bad happening when she's out somewhere.

>I considered going to Prom a HUGE success for her. I'm extremely proud

>of her for agreeing to go to a school function tonight with a friend,

>despite her fear. She's extremely compulsive about not missing school,

>so I was pretty sure that she would agree to go, but going to an extra

>curricular activity on a day with such high anxiety is amazing.

>Granted, she's going to make sure that she's near the door so she can

>escape quickly if she needs to, but at least she's going. Baby steps,

>though I think this is a huge leap for her.

>

>Trudy in KC, MO

[Guest guest]

Feel free to use whatever part of any of my posts that you want. If I

was concerned with that level of privacy, I wouldn't post here. I do

appreciate you leaving out her name of course.

I'm certainly glad that several of you have responded. It feels good to

know that Eleena's not the only one as terrified as she is. I can

certainly sympathize with those of you who wanted to let your kids stay

home. If Eleena didn't have OCD, I might have let her. I was just

afraid of letting her give in to compulsions that result in her hiding

away, since she does that in her social life already. School is the one

area in which she currently doesn't do that.

Trudy

-----Original Message-----

From: kathyh [mailto:kathyh@...]

Hi:

Great for Eleena! Both my kids were very anxious about school this am.

We

got a letter from the District Superintendent yesterday aimed at

allaying

fears and dispelling rumors of Columbine anniversary incidents at

school.

My older son was shot at school (by a BB gun toting junior) two weeks

after

Columbine last year and so were 5 other kids. It was very hushed up and

the perp was expelled and assault charges were filed. He told me he was

scared when I dropped him off. His school reminded me of the security I

saw at the Northern Ireland airport. Only one access point, cops very

visible on the campus, and probably only 60% attendance by students.

Steve was extra upset because a gecko was trapped in my car and he had

to

rescue it. He has probably been doing similar things to Eleena but not

mentioning them. He is having quite a major waxing episode right now

anyway without the extra Columbine stuff. Two kids in his class were

suspended yesterday for making Columbine-related remarks.

I will be very glad when this day is over and my kids are home safe and

their anxiety will go down. Would you mind if I shared your description

of

Eleena (of course I will blank our her name) with Steve's 504 team so

they

can get more understanding of the challenges our kids face? Please tell

Eleena I am very impressed with her bossing back OCD like this.

Hope you are not sorry you asked about Columbine. Thanks for letting me

vent. Take care, aloha, Kathy (H)

kathyh@...

At 07:42 AM 04/20/2000 -0500, you wrote:

>Just curious, anybody else have problems last night or this morning

>because of the anniversary of the Columbine shooting? Eleena agreed to

>go to school today (I look at that as the only step of ERP that she

>would be willing to do), but I know that she's been planning escape

>routes from each of her classrooms for over a month. She's even

walking

>different routes to her classes because she wants to be in what she

>considers less exposed, or safer hallways at school. She was

originally

>going to wear a skirt with sandals today, but when she realized what

>today is, she decided to go with something that she could move (run) in

>easily to escape an insane killer. I feel so bad for her. I know that

>even kids without OCD are probably scared of a copycat shooter, but

it's

>really tough for her. One of her OCs is avoiding almost all social

>situations for fear of something bad happening when she's out

somewhere.

>I considered going to Prom a HUGE success for her. I'm extremely proud

>of her for agreeing to go to a school function tonight with a friend,

>despite her fear. She's extremely compulsive about not missing school,

>so I was pretty sure that she would agree to go, but going to an extra

>curricular activity on a day with such high anxiety is amazing.

>Granted, she's going to make sure that she's near the door so she can

>escape quickly if she needs to, but at least she's going. Baby steps,

>though I think this is a huge leap for her.

>

>Trudy in KC, MO

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Your high school sweetheart-where is he now? With 4.4 million alumni

already registered at Classmates.com, there's a good chance you'll

find her here. Visit your online high school class reunion at:

1/3139/3/_/531051/_/956258212/

------------------------------------------------------------------------

You may subscribe to the OCD-L by emailing listserv@... . In

the body of your message write: subscribe OCD-L your name. The

Archives and Features List for the may be

accessed by going to , enter your email address

and password, then point and click. Subscription issues, problems, or

suggestions may be addressed to Louis Harkins, list owner, at

harkins@... .

[Guest guest]

I agree about the ocd related to school issue. My daughter is just at a point

of relaxation and now this. We have to keep her anxiety level at minimum. If

the school had not recieved threats, no problem. I felt the need to stay home

with them and we watched the tribute to Columbine. I told the girls this was

our way to give thought to those special families who have had to endure such

tragedy. Also to the school kids that have to

walk the halls every day in sadness and fear. Today we shared a mother/daughter

moment which mom has needed for some time. Well I know this doesn't sound like

I am helping her ocd, but my 18 daughter w/o ocd really needed to be home too.

It was a special afternoon for us. I am proud of your daughter also and Kathy

my thoughts are w/ you and your son on days like this.

Lori-ca

trudy p mcculloch wrote:

> Feel free to use whatever part of any of my posts that you want. If I

> was concerned with that level of privacy, I wouldn't post here. I do

> appreciate you leaving out her name of course.

>

> I'm certainly glad that several of you have responded. It feels good to

> know that Eleena's not the only one as terrified as she is. I can

> certainly sympathize with those of you who wanted to let your kids stay

> home. If Eleena didn't have OCD, I might have let her. I was just

> afraid of letting her give in to compulsions that result in her hiding

> away, since she does that in her social life already. School is the one

> area in which she currently doesn't do that.

>

> Trudy

>

> -----Original Message-----

> From: kathyh [mailto:kathyh@...]

>

> Hi:

>

> Great for Eleena! Both my kids were very anxious about school this am.

> We

> got a letter from the District Superintendent yesterday aimed at

> allaying

> fears and dispelling rumors of Columbine anniversary incidents at

> school.

> My older son was shot at school (by a BB gun toting junior) two weeks

> after

> Columbine last year and so were 5 other kids. It was very hushed up and

> the perp was expelled and assault charges were filed. He told me he was

> scared when I dropped him off. His school reminded me of the security I

> saw at the Northern Ireland airport. Only one access point, cops very

> visible on the campus, and probably only 60% attendance by students.

>

> Steve was extra upset because a gecko was trapped in my car and he had

> to

> rescue it. He has probably been doing similar things to Eleena but not

> mentioning them. He is having quite a major waxing episode right now

> anyway without the extra Columbine stuff. Two kids in his class were

> suspended yesterday for making Columbine-related remarks.

>

> I will be very glad when this day is over and my kids are home safe and

> their anxiety will go down. Would you mind if I shared your description

> of

> Eleena (of course I will blank our her name) with Steve's 504 team so

> they

> can get more understanding of the challenges our kids face? Please tell

> Eleena I am very impressed with her bossing back OCD like this.

>

> Hope you are not sorry you asked about Columbine. Thanks for letting me

> vent. Take care, aloha, Kathy (H)

> kathyh@...

>

> At 07:42 AM 04/20/2000 -0500, you wrote:

> >Just curious, anybody else have problems last night or this morning

> >because of the anniversary of the Columbine shooting? Eleena agreed to

> >go to school today (I look at that as the only step of ERP that she

> >would be willing to do), but I know that she's been planning escape

> >routes from each of her classrooms for over a month. She's even

> walking

> >different routes to her classes because she wants to be in what she

> >considers less exposed, or safer hallways at school. She was

> originally

> >going to wear a skirt with sandals today, but when she realized what

> >today is, she decided to go with something that she could move (run) in

> >easily to escape an insane killer. I feel so bad for her. I know that

> >even kids without OCD are probably scared of a copycat shooter, but

> it's

> >really tough for her. One of her OCs is avoiding almost all social

> >situations for fear of something bad happening when she's out

> somewhere.

> >I considered going to Prom a HUGE success for her. I'm extremely proud

> >of her for agreeing to go to a school function tonight with a friend,

> >despite her fear. She's extremely compulsive about not missing school,

> >so I was pretty sure that she would agree to go, but going to an extra

> >curricular activity on a day with such high anxiety is amazing.

> >Granted, she's going to make sure that she's near the door so she can

> >escape quickly if she needs to, but at least she's going. Baby steps,

> >though I think this is a huge leap for her.

> >

> >Trudy in KC, MO

>

> ------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Your high school sweetheart-where is he now? With 4.4 million alumni

> already registered at Classmates.com, there's a good chance you'll

> find her here. Visit your online high school class reunion at:

> 1/3139/3/_/531051/_/956258212/

> ------------------------------------------------------------------------

>

> You may subscribe to the OCD-L by emailing listserv@... . In

> the body of your message write: subscribe OCD-L your name. The

> Archives and Features List for the may be

> accessed by going to , enter your email address

> and password, then point and click. Subscription issues, problems, or

> suggestions may be addressed to Louis Harkins, list owner, at

> harkins@... .

>

> ------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Your high school sweetheart-where is he now? With 4.4 million alumni

> already registered at Classmates.com, there's a good chance you'll

> find her here. Visit your online high school class reunion at:

> 1/3139/3/_/531051/_/956258814/

> ------------------------------------------------------------------------

>

> You may subscribe to the OCD-L by emailing listserv@... . In the

body of your message write: subscribe OCD-L your name. The Archives and

Features List for the may be accessed by going to

, enter your email address and password, then point and

click. Subscription issues, problems, or suggestions may be addressed to Louis

Harkins, list owner, at harkins@... .

[Guest guest]

We didnt discuss Columbine at all. I imagine that the kids talked about it

with their friends.

Unfortunatly, we did have a local young man stab 5 people. No motive has

been released as yet. It's been implied that he has social difficulties, and

since he cut his own wrists, I would suggest that he was depressed. Lets

just hope that this doesnt turn into another anti-meds situation.

wendy, in canada

________________________________________________________________________

Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com

[Guest guest]

Trudy,in KC, MO

Cairaine- Secondary School in Orleans. I hope you dont know anyone

involved! Here is the CBC web site: its the top local story.

http://www.ottawa.cbc.ca/

wendy, in canada.

________________________________________________________________________

Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com

[Guest guest]

Just curious, what school was that at? All we heard down here was that

the stabbing was somewhere in Ontario.

Trudy in KC, MO

-----Original Message-----

From: wb4 [mailto:wb4@...]

We didnt discuss Columbine at all. I imagine that the kids talked about

it

with their friends.

Unfortunatly, we did have a local young man stab 5 people. No motive has

been released as yet. It's been implied that he has social difficulties,

and

since he cut his own wrists, I would suggest that he was depressed. Lets

just hope that this doesnt turn into another anti-meds situation.

wendy, in canada

[Guest guest]

My son's school had bomb threats the day before... causing them during 4th

period to have to go outside and do a mock evacation. When he came home his

mouth was hurting and he could only eat soft food... this happens when he

gets upset and stress..... this time was a bit different, he had blisters

appear inside his mouth...

He did not want to go to school, however my parents forced him.. he has been

missing school alot lately....

was never one to miss school, he would go sick, he wouldn't dare miss

a day.. he had perfect attendance until this school term. The OCD hightened,

the effect it has on him! It is a daily learning experience with him. He

has missed so much school this year, due to the 5 days in junvenile, the

court appearances, and his " illness " ...

I hope everyones child/children are doing good on this day...

Easter!