The Virginia Tech Tragedy
I realize that in our classes this week we haven't discussed the shootings at Virginia Tech, and I have mixed feelings about that. On the one hand, at this point in the semester everyone, myself included, feels the end-of-the-year pressure to keep going, to get everything done (on time and well, we hope), and it's easy to go through these last couple weeks of the year with blinkers on, ignoring the outside world. But, on the other hand, I don't think it's right to ignore such a shocking and tragic event.
Humans need to make sense of their world, especially at times when we're faced with tragedy. If you doubt this, just consider all the commentators on TV, the radio, the Internet--everyone wants to add his or her two cents. We watch and listen and read not because anybody's saying anything really insightful or useful, but because we need to wrap our minds around what happened, and just talking about it helps us do that.
I've just read in The Chronicle of Higher Education an interesting response to all the commentary. In "The Legacy of the Texas Tower Sniper," Gary Lavergne compares the shootings this week with another incident in Texas in 1966. Then he reminds us:
It is vitally important for all to remember that there is only one person responsible for what happened in Blacksburg, and that is the man who pulled the trigger. But in Virginia the diversions have already begun. As I write this, less than a half-day since the senseless killing of nearly three dozen innocent people, Web headlines on CNN, Fox, and MSNBC read: "Did Virginia Tech's Response Cost Lives?" "Parents Demand Firing of Virginia Tech President, Police Chief Over Handling," "Students Wonder About Police Response."Perhaps Lavergne's point is provocative, but I think he's right. We need to make sense of what happened, but to do successfully that we need to stop looking for someplace to lay blame.
[...]
Before we identify and learn the lessons of Blacksburg, we must begin with the obvious: [...] innocent people were gunned down by a murderer who is completely responsible for what happened. No one died for lack of text messages or an alarm system. They died of gunshot wounds. While we painfully learn our lessons, we must not treat each other as if we are responsible for the deaths that occurred. We must come together and be respectful and kind. This is not a time for us to torture ourselves or to seek comfort by finding someone to blame.
25 comments:
I agree with you. The tragedy does not needed to be blamed on anyone but the murderer. However, I think that the signs that he showed needs explanation. This may not have happen if further steps were taken on certain characteristics of his.
Yes he was to blame for everything but it does raise questions on did any one notice his actions before the shooting did any see him the day of the shooting and talk to him. Did the people who let him into college know that this kid was insane. You cant blame anyone else but you do have to raise questions about it just to see if it wasnt just him.
I agree with you but I am also agreeing with adam. He has a good point. Maybe the shooter was a loner and didn't have any friends. I feel upset when I hear about what took place. I get upset cause maybe their was somthing that someone could have down to prevent this from happening.
I agree with Adam. Yes the shooter was the one to pull the trigger and kill all those innocent people but from what I heard, the signs of how potentially dangerous he was to himself and others was regonized and was not taken seriously enough. I agree with you when you ended with how we learn our lessons through our mistakes but, do we really need to learn a lesson when our mistake is noticed after innocent lives are taken? I think its too late by then, the damage is done.
I agree with you, instead of looking for someone to blame for not paying attention to what was happening we should pay attention to what is wrong with today's society that leads young people like him to have such twisted minds.
I totally agree with you Mr. Barnette. No one is to blame but the shooter. I dont see why anyone would want to fire the president or police cheif because if they dont get a call how can they help. Sadly in todays society people want to point fingers and blame others instead of treating the real problem.
I couldn't agree more. Blame a pessimistic nature, but I don't think much more could have been done to prevent future deaths after the first incident. The only thing I see wrong with how it was handled is that school should have been canceled, at least for the day. However, it wouldn't matter much anyway, unless they found the shooter before he got to his next victims. Let's face it, if someone in this world wants to do something, they will do it. Where there's a will, there's a way.
To Adam B., there were signs and they were noted. But you can't force someone to do something they don't want to unless they are a proven danger.
There is no where for fingers to be pointed, except to ourselves. Situations like this should only make us take a close look at our society.
I also believe and hope that most everyone out there has a good enough head on their shoulders to realize that there is only one person responsible for this . A couple of my surfing buddies from Norfolk attend school at VT, one was shot three times and the other was shot once while they held a door shut in a dorm room. When I talked with them they pretty much said the guy that did this was a shady character all around (cleanest way of putting it). No one out there could have imagined this happening but as members of society we should all be more observant towards our surrounding and anything or anyone for that matter, which looks out of place and not place the blame on others after something happens. Another problem that is now faced after this tragedy is the news stations broadcasting the video and showing the pictures that this coward sent to NBC. By doing this the news stations are only reinforcing what he wanted which is his message to be told and getting some attention. It’s hard to believe that those images are being shown over and over, the whole time the family members of those killed and injured are watching. Sometimes people should place themselves in someone else’s shoes and not worry about the “big story” or what is going to get the ratings up.
I would have to agree with Wendy. There were warning signs but they can't force the kid into therapy. I mean the papers and stuff he was writing were horrible and the teachers pointed him out to counselors. The only thing that really hit me hard (besides the shooting itself) was that during the break between the shooting he sent those pictures and letters to NBC. This guy was truly a crazy person.
I do think that there was only one person responsible for these acts, and simply finding somewhere to lay the blame does not seem very appropriate at this moment. There are many things that could have , should have, and would have happened if perhaps different steps were taken. But the matter of fact is that this actually occured. There is no turning back from the tragedy, the only thing that we can do as a society is mover forward and learn from it, we should also be attempting to support this community rather than playing the blame game.
It really is a tragedy and we blame the shooter. I feel bad for everyone involved. Shootings like these are becoming too common, and it makes me wonder how culture is changing in a way that people are becoming more viloent and murderers. The shooter was a young man, what could of made him snap like that?
I agree that the killer is to blame, and I also agree that people shouldn't be pointing fingers at others. However, it is going to be done.
Parents are going to want to see some sort of improvement in the protection/prevention system before they send their children back to school. The school realizes this, and even though no one else is to blame, the school is probably going to fire a hand-full of people. Of course the media having a frenzy doesn't help the president's chances of keeping his job.
I agree with the fact that there were signs for this kids mental distress, but i feel that the school did the best that they could to help him and that he just acted like he was doing better just to get them to leave him alone. I also feel that the school made a few mistakes in not closing the campus, but they had a person in custody who they believed commited the murder. Also the shooter was a student he still could have had access to the campus so there wasn't much they could have possibly done.
The Virginia Tech Tragedy was very shocking to the world. This tragedy really raises a lot of questions in schools all over the world especially colleges. Are we safe? This could have happened in any college around the world. The murderer is to blame, but I definitely agree that the murderer wasn't being watched closely at all.
I agree with you Mr. Barnette. Everyone knows the real story about what happened that day and want to blame the first person they can. You are right...its not anyone's fault except for the person who pulled the trigger.
Instead of trying to look for someplace to lay blame, everyone should be coming together to honor those faculty, staff, and students that went into Virginia Tech that morning, and lost their lives to a senseless shooting.
I very much agree with you. As you stated, its not a time to blame people. We all know what the real cause of the tragedy was. This is the time that our colleges, and our nation should come together as a whole. There is no need arguing over it. Many people lost their lives and many parents and family members are having a very hard time with it. I think this should be a time for comfort.
I agree the murderer is the only one who needs to be blamed for what he did. But i also think that the families of those 32 people that died that day deserve an explanation of what happened. I think that something could have been done during those two hours between the shootings.
I have a lot of feelings about the shooting. Yes he is to blame for the lives lost but my understanding is it was in 2 hours from one shooting to the other. In that case yea the police and school could have done something more than what they did. I don't want to hear anyone saying "they did what they could" tell that to someone else. I agree we should not be blaming anyone; we should come together and think how we can prevent this from happening again some where else. People personally hurt by this shooting are going to blame someone out of hurt. I hate it happened and hope everyone thinks to be nice to everyone you might make a difference in there lives. I also want to say a prayer for all the ones who has lost a love one or have been hurt by this offal tragedy.
I don't agree. The police had no way of knowing that the first shooting would grow into that. They thought that it was an isolated incident. I do agree that they should have atleast informed everyone though.
I agree with you Mr. Barnette that no one should be blamed for this shooting except for the murderer. Once the first shooting happened, they police and other authorities should have shut down the school before the shooter could go to the other side of the school and shoot more students and faculty. Teachers should pay attention to students and look for signs in students that they think could lead to something like this shooting and try to help students to prevent this from happeneing again or at other schools too.
The "Virginia Tech Tragedy" was another unbelievable event in our country. Yes, these things have happened before but it seems like each time they happen they get more and more attention. This tragedy at Virginia Tech can be looked and studied for years and still never find out why this kid did what he did. All the signs were there according to NBC and all the other media reports, but how could anyone possibly suspect another person of committing mass murder.
I agree with you Mr. Barnette, we need to make sense of our world and come together in times like this. We all know who committed this horrifying act. We do not need to draw more attention to this person for it is exactly why he did it. Instead, look at the people he killed, these were young college students that were trying to get ahead in life. Now, there families are the only ones left behind and they have to look at the face of their children’s killer on the news every day.
This is definatly "not a time to torture ourselves or seek comfort by finding someone to blame." All we can do now is come together, take this experience and learn from it. At the same time be respectful to the human life lost and their families.
It’s amazing how people point the blame towards others in the search for justice. I can’t believe that people are wanted the president of Virginia tech fired. In this emotional time, the families of the people involved want some one to be punished. I believe that if the killer was to still be alive, people would put a 100% of the blame on him. But, because he is dead they feel cheated. They want someone else to suffer life their loved ones did on the day of he shooting. So they blame the president. Personally, it makes me angry to even think that people behave, act and even think in that way like the shooter. We are only put on this world for one time. We should use that time to help the whole world grow into something much greater, and not feel that it is necessary to kill people just because of their belief’s that have been brainwashed into them.
I agree with you Mr. Barnette, the president of VT did not pull the trigger nor did anyone else but the shooter himself. on the other hand though, like adam said, iot does raise questions. How did faculty, staff, and even students not notice the kid locking a hold building down? Questions will still araise long after the shooting and more fingers will be pointed before this will ever lay to rest, if is ever lays to rest.
I agree also, we can't always point our fingers to those who aren't involed. For example the hurricane Katrina fingers were point at presiden Bush as if he could control mother nature, even with 9/11 fingers were pointed at him as if he had an inside look on things. Tragedies like this shouldn't be blame on those who have no control over the situation.
I agree with Mr. Barnette. I think the shooter should take all the blame. I also think that someone else assisted the shooter on planning. I don't understand how could he just walk round campus over 2hrs shooting innocent people.
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