It's on everybody's mind. We all complain, grieve, postulate, examine, diagnose and critique every aspect of any tragedy that occurs within the borders of the free world. It's hard not to do so when the media we've grown dependant on to feed us with every aspect of the going ons around the globe exploits every little story for it's greatest potential. And, if CNN is willing to report a chinese translation SNAFU resulting in the N-bomb being used to describe the color of a sofa, imagine the detail and intimacy they'll put into the recent shooting In Viginia this week. We know about it, we think about it, and yet we're scared to do so. Because the grim facts face us all, every moment.
At this point, it is expected that every state in our illustrious union will have it's own place in American history where someone dies in a school shooting within the next 10 years. Allow me to explain. In the past 40 years, 30 states have joined the disheartening brotherhood of areas where a child has picked up a weapon and taken the life of another. These killings seem to gravitate around high schools, yet younger children are not immune. Who could forget the 6 year old boy in Michigan that walked into his 2nd grade classroom and shot a fellow 6 year old student, killing her.
When did it start? Was it Aug. 1, 1966 when Charles Joseph Whitman, a 25-year-old architectural engineering honor student at the University of Texas, went on a sniping rampage and shot 44 people? That particular day is infamous in Texas history, and yet, there was so little killing of that sort that was newsworthy until almost 22 years later, in May of 1988, when Laurie Wasserman Dann, 30, walked into an elementary school in Illinois and shot several kids, killing one. After that, the flood gates seemed to slowly open wide.
As soon as the 90's came around, over 12 shootings made headline news. That's more than one per year, occurring in Iowa, Kentucky, Arkansas, Oregon, Colorado, New Mexico, and Mississippi. Tennessee had two, and even one in Alaska! Perhaps I'm being callous, but what could be happening all the way at the top of the world in Feb. of 1997 for a 16-year-old boy to take a shotgun and a bag of shells to school and kill the principal and a student, plus injure two others? Then again, what could be happening in any state or city for that kind of rage to explode upon the innocent?
The statistics haven't changed for the new millenium. Already, there were 13 shootings worth reporting in Michigan, Florida, two in Minnesota and Pennsylvania, another in Tennessee, Ohio, Wisconsin and now, Virginia.
With all that slaying happeining, we are watching, wondering, worrying. And, being in California, we have reason. We are not to be outdone. We always find a way to catch up with the times. In March of '01, Andy Williams kills two and injures 13 others in Santana High. Not to be bested, Jason Hoffman decides to start firing at Granite Hills High, injuring 4 students and 2 teachers.
While the dangers of these shootings are obvious, it is a very distressing fact, at least to me, that we are becomeing used to it.
"No! That's just wrong, and you should be ashamed to say such a thing." I've been scolded.
Yet, all of the episodes I have listed are only the ones the media deem newsworthy. the shootings and killings in Nevada, Washington D.C., MIssouri, The Carolinas, New York, Michigan, Georgia,Maryland, Alabama, Oklahoma, New Hampshire, New Jersey and Utah don't seem to really rank to be listed publicly. Just go to http://thehive.modbee.com/?q=node/3758 and see a list. If the media is able to pick and choose which killing spree we should be concerned with, does it seem probable that we as a society are just becoming numb to the fact?
But today, we're scared. Cho Seung-Hui planned a murderous attack, and almost three dozen people are dead. People like us. Students. And yet, this isn't new. Hell, in Aug. of 1996, Frederick Martin Davidson, 36, a graduate engineering student at San Diego State, pulls out a handgun and kills three professors. It can happen to anyone, anytime. Even at home.
Should we be thinking about this? Should we stress on it? Is there a purpose for us to muse over the fact that, if history truly does repeat itself, a copycat will spring up somewhere? yes. Because we aren't doing anything about it. We're ponting the finger and laying the blame, but we're not being proactive. We're just waiting so see who's next.
"What do we do, smart ass?" you might challenge.
you have to wonder, what can we do? Obviously, waiting for someone else to do something about things apparently isn't cutting the muster. But, can we do something? Anything? I honestly don't know. But, I do know that holding our collective breaths for something to dawn on somebody else could create some serious mass light-headedness, not to mention leave us waiting to become victims ourselves.
Perhaps we should all look deeper into the problem, see what we can do to help find this evasive answer. Take control. Get up and try to find help for that really strange guy sitting next to you, or report your drinking buddy for that rather unnecessary comment about his ex. Believe your inner instinct when your roommate starts to act strangely, and think about how serious he might be about it when he really wants that professor to pay. Basically, don't be the next interview that says,
"I can't believe it. I never thought he'd do that."
As for myself? I'll continue to seek an answer. I'll look deeper into every story until a common thread comes to light. But, even more often, I'm gonna pray.
For lists of recent, (and not so recent) shootings:
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,266368,00.html
http://www.schoolsecurity.org/trends/school_violence06-07.html
http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=3045893&page=2
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2006/10/02/america/NA_GEN_US_School_Shootings.php
