by Kerry Richards
In the past week our nation has suffered a tragedy that is virtually incomparable to any past events. Virginia Tech suffered the loss of thirty-three of their students. Thirty-two innocent students and one crazed gunman. This event is the worst act of school violence in memory.
In the past week our nation has suffered a tragedy that is virtually incomparable to any past events. Virginia Tech suffered the loss of thirty-three of their students. Thirty-two innocent students and one crazed gunman. This event is the worst act of school violence in memory.
Could this event have been prevented? I believe it could have been. There were plenty of warning signs. This student was clearly mentally deranged. As seen from papers and skits he wrote and passed in. Teachers should have made a bigger deal of this then what was made. Yes, this work was reported, but more steps should have been taken. As seen from Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris, this work does indicate things that may come. When these two boys handed in a video project revolving around murder in their high school, nothing was done to remove them from schools. The same occurred in this case. The administration in schools needs to become more sensitive to this kind of cry for help. It's a lesson schools should have learned by now.
This was a student who exhibited many warning signs of potential violence. He was reported as stalking two female students. He appeared suicidal, and was even committed at one point. However, this care was listed as outpatient and thus Seung-Hui Cho was allowed to buy firearms.
It appears as if so much could have been done to prevent this tragedy. After Columbine, it seems many actions were taken to increase school security. However, it wasn't enough to stop this incident. What will be done now? School has yet to resume from April vacation, but when it does what's in store could be a much greater increase in how closely students are watched. A massacre like this one should be preventable by now.
1 comment:
Especially as a newspaper editor, you should be very careful about what you wish for. In hindsight, this deranged gunman did submit some pretty disturbing work, but I have to admit I read it this week. It is not the worst or most violent or disturbing material I've ever read. Contemporary horror writers like Steven King and Clive Barker crank out much worse stuff in one afternoon at the keyboard. If you suggest that graphic fiction is grounds for discipline, is this not akin to censorship?
Again, in hindsight, the writing, the anti-social behavior should have alerted authorities. How much authority do you propose a government have in exercising "preventive detention"?
I agree that, "A massacre like this one should be preventable by now," but swooping in and targeting writers who exercise graphic imagery or exhibits anti-social tendencies may not be the most effective method of prevention.
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