I can't believe I'm writing this. It seems like evrytime something like this occurs, we hear about how school officials are going to take threats of violence seriously. Today, at 4 pm, a gunman entered a classroom at Northern Illinois University. I'm not blaming school officials at all because, to be frank, they really had no chance to shut down the school. How could they have known? The kid didn't even go to NIU and had no known ties to the school.
Here are the facts: four people are dead and fourteen people are wounded. Seriously, what is wrong with people. I'm sure everyone knows somebody who likes to joke about killing people and its time to stop it. People who make jokes like that always follow them with "I'm just kidding." Well, its time to stop this. And even though I say it, I no longer believe it will happen. After Colombine, I figured there would be a major movement to stop school violence. And the saddest thing: there was a movement yet people still go on rampages like this.
Now, lots of people on the news will discuss the causes of this incident for the next couple of weeks. They will blame everything from music to video games to bullies. But, the fact is, none of those things actually led to this killing spree. Whether this unidentifed killer listened to Marilyn Manson or Jay-Z, neither musician led to this violence. I've been listening to Hip-Hop and watching violent movies for years and have never felt like going on a personal vendetta.
How in the world can somebody do this? I wish there was a concrete way to eliminate school violence, but there just is no real way. If I had to guess, I would say these people didn't have good parents growing up. But the Virginia Tech killer supposedly had hard working, loving parents. Basically I'm throwing out a catch 22. I want there to be a way to prevent mass killings like this, but I believe there is no way to prevent them.
Here is an account from a student in the classroom of the shooting from NBC:
Paul Sundstrom of Rockford, Ill., one of 150 to 200 students in the geography class when the shooting took place, told NBC affiliate WMAQ that the gunman was a thin white man wearing a black “beanie” and a black trench coat.
The man entered the room from the back, behind the professor, and began shooting without saying a word, Sundstrom said. Firing in the general direction of the students, he emptied his clip of ammunition and calmly reloaded before resuming firing.
“He just walked in and just started shooting at people randomly,” Sundstrom said. “I crawled out to the main aisle, then just got up and ran and turned around and saw him shooting.”
Sundstrom added: “I just don’t know why anybody would want to do anything like this.”
The basic answer to all the questions surrounding events like this is "I don't know."
I know this is a little different from what we usually put on this site, but I felt it was important to recognize yet another national tragedy. Please post some comments about your opinions on the NIU shooting.
Here are the facts: four people are dead and fourteen people are wounded. Seriously, what is wrong with people. I'm sure everyone knows somebody who likes to joke about killing people and its time to stop it. People who make jokes like that always follow them with "I'm just kidding." Well, its time to stop this. And even though I say it, I no longer believe it will happen. After Colombine, I figured there would be a major movement to stop school violence. And the saddest thing: there was a movement yet people still go on rampages like this.
Now, lots of people on the news will discuss the causes of this incident for the next couple of weeks. They will blame everything from music to video games to bullies. But, the fact is, none of those things actually led to this killing spree. Whether this unidentifed killer listened to Marilyn Manson or Jay-Z, neither musician led to this violence. I've been listening to Hip-Hop and watching violent movies for years and have never felt like going on a personal vendetta.
How in the world can somebody do this? I wish there was a concrete way to eliminate school violence, but there just is no real way. If I had to guess, I would say these people didn't have good parents growing up. But the Virginia Tech killer supposedly had hard working, loving parents. Basically I'm throwing out a catch 22. I want there to be a way to prevent mass killings like this, but I believe there is no way to prevent them.
Here is an account from a student in the classroom of the shooting from NBC:
Paul Sundstrom of Rockford, Ill., one of 150 to 200 students in the geography class when the shooting took place, told NBC affiliate WMAQ that the gunman was a thin white man wearing a black “beanie” and a black trench coat.
The man entered the room from the back, behind the professor, and began shooting without saying a word, Sundstrom said. Firing in the general direction of the students, he emptied his clip of ammunition and calmly reloaded before resuming firing.
“He just walked in and just started shooting at people randomly,” Sundstrom said. “I crawled out to the main aisle, then just got up and ran and turned around and saw him shooting.”
Sundstrom added: “I just don’t know why anybody would want to do anything like this.”
The basic answer to all the questions surrounding events like this is "I don't know."
I know this is a little different from what we usually put on this site, but I felt it was important to recognize yet another national tragedy. Please post some comments about your opinions on the NIU shooting.
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