2008 Woodie Awards
The school shooting epidemic
Don't blame the media
Bianca Alysse Mercado
Section: Opinion
Yet another American school shooting took place on March, 3 2008 at Northern Illinois University. University President John Peters told CNN.com "A gunman dressed in black stepped from behind a curtain at the front of a large lecture hall at Northern Illinois University …and shot 21 people, five of them fatally, then shot and killed himself." Why do you assume school shootings seem to happen more than ever now?
Our generation often times burdens video games, music and movies as being accountable for the actions of those who commit the heinous crimes. As an adult, it is your responsibility to not be so easily influenced by "negative media." I feel it is ridiculous to blame images adults see on television or hear in music as reasoning behind their actions.
There is a misconception that this generation has been the first to experience school shootings. According to Wikipedia.com " Charles Joseph Whitman was a student at the University of Texas at Austin who killed 14 people and wounded 31 others, as part of a shooting rampage from the observation deck of the university's 32-story administrative building on August 1, 1966. He did this shortly after murdering his wife and mother. He was eventually shot and killed by Austin police." During this time, the media was not blamed.
In past American school shootings, it was proven that there were many contributing factors prior to the "breaking point" of the shooter. Previous cases show that the shooters were bullied, treated as outcasts by their peers and, in some cases, suffered from some sort of disorder. For example, murderer Seung-Hui Cho of the Virginia Tech Massacre was diagnosed with selective mutism, depression and also an anxiety disorder. Those around him saw signs of something being "off" with him prior to his attacks.
An American struggle is finding a way to better protect students from falling victim to people like Cho.
There has been a drastic increase in security at schools around the country to protect students from outside harm, but the school shooters tend to be from inside of the attacked academic community.
It's a shame because college is supposed to be a constructive experience where students not only learn academically, but often times discover themselves. It is unfortunate that currently the college experience is frequently being tarnished by this traumatizing scene. This scene is now becoming all too familiar and I'm uncertain if these shooters have "copy-cat syndrome" or these tragic school shootings are an epidemic of our times. As a student, this raises eyebrows because too many of us have ended up in the wrong place at the wrong time while trying to do the right thing.
Our generation often times burdens video games, music and movies as being accountable for the actions of those who commit the heinous crimes. As an adult, it is your responsibility to not be so easily influenced by "negative media." I feel it is ridiculous to blame images adults see on television or hear in music as reasoning behind their actions.
There is a misconception that this generation has been the first to experience school shootings. According to Wikipedia.com " Charles Joseph Whitman was a student at the University of Texas at Austin who killed 14 people and wounded 31 others, as part of a shooting rampage from the observation deck of the university's 32-story administrative building on August 1, 1966. He did this shortly after murdering his wife and mother. He was eventually shot and killed by Austin police." During this time, the media was not blamed.
In past American school shootings, it was proven that there were many contributing factors prior to the "breaking point" of the shooter. Previous cases show that the shooters were bullied, treated as outcasts by their peers and, in some cases, suffered from some sort of disorder. For example, murderer Seung-Hui Cho of the Virginia Tech Massacre was diagnosed with selective mutism, depression and also an anxiety disorder. Those around him saw signs of something being "off" with him prior to his attacks.
An American struggle is finding a way to better protect students from falling victim to people like Cho.
There has been a drastic increase in security at schools around the country to protect students from outside harm, but the school shooters tend to be from inside of the attacked academic community.
It's a shame because college is supposed to be a constructive experience where students not only learn academically, but often times discover themselves. It is unfortunate that currently the college experience is frequently being tarnished by this traumatizing scene. This scene is now becoming all too familiar and I'm uncertain if these shooters have "copy-cat syndrome" or these tragic school shootings are an epidemic of our times. As a student, this raises eyebrows because too many of us have ended up in the wrong place at the wrong time while trying to do the right thing.
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