Campus Mourns Virginia Tech Tragedy (Part 2)
<b>SHOOTING: Study shows that often many common myths about school shootings are not necessarily correct.</b>
By Chammarra Johnson
Staff Writer
Following the recent shooting at Virginia Polytechnic Institute, an article released on MSNBC.com last February has many people talking about the many misconceptions regarding the perpetrators of school shootings and what this means for colleges across the country.
The list was compiled from a 2002 study by the U.S. Secret Service and the U.S. Department of Education. The researchers studied various case files and other primary sources for 37 attacks by current or former students. They also interviewed 10 of the perpetrators in these attacks. According to the list, the most common myths are:
There Are No Profiles - There is no accurate way to profile students for being at risk of committing crimes like this. When creating a profile, you will be at risk of having many innocent people fit the 'profile' and many attackers who do not. According to the article, "The demographic, personality, school history and social characteristics of the attackers varied substantially. Attackers were of all races and family situations, with academic achievement ranging from failing to excellent."
He Just Snapped - Attacks are not usually impulsive. Instead, the attackers usually plan their attacks, spending time forming the idea and gathering weapons.
No One Knew - Before most attacks, the perpetrators reveal to someone their plans, usually a friend, classmate or sibling. However, this information rarely makes it to an adult.
He Hadn't Threatened Anyone - A person doesn't need to vocalize a threat to pose a threat. A student who is seeking revenge, has spoken of bringing a gun to school, etc, is a threat. According to the article, "Most attackers did not threaten and most threateners did not attack."
He Was a Loner - Most of the perpetrators of school shootings were kids who participated in clubs, sports or other activities. Only one-quarter of shooters were "fringe" students.
He Was Crazy - While most of the perpetrators had a history of suicidal thoughts, depression and trouble dealing with loss or personal failures, only one-third had ever been seen by mental health professional and only one-fifth were diagnosed with a mental disorder.
If Only We'd Had a SWAT Team or Metal Detectors - SWAT teams usually arrive once an incident is over and metal detectors won't deter students intent on killing themselves or others.
He'd Never Touched a Gun - Most shooters have touched a gun at some point in their lives and many acquire guns from their homes.
We Did Everything We Could to Help Him - Most perpetrators of school shootings have felt bullied, persecuted or injured by others before committing their crimes and most have tried to get some sort of help.
School Violence Is Rampant - It may seem as though we see school shootings in the news on a regular basis, but school shootings are actually very rare.
So, in light of the recent shooting at Virginia Tech, do UC Irvine students feel more at risk?
Anthony Marsh, a fourth-year history major, feels that we are not at risk. "In California, there are stricter gun control laws so it isn't as easy for people to wantonly walk into gun shops and purchase them."
Another student, who wishes to remain anonymous disagrees. "This shooting has shown me that violence like this can occur anywhere, even on college campuses. What I am most afraid of is that in Irvine, we won't be prepared if something of this nature happens. The administration and police might not know what to do."
Professor Linda Vo, an Asian-American studies professor, hopes that we will use this tragedy in order to strengthen our own school policies. "I do hope that we use this opportunity to reevaluate our mental health policies on university campuses and make improvements where necessary. College campuses are now more diverse than ever before, so it's important to have counselors who are trained to work with their needs.
Everyone is making changes in response to this tragedy in order to better serve the school community in a time of crisis. Currently, the UCI Police Department is going over and revamping procedures in order to prepare for such an event. But if something were to occur, would they be ready? Hopefully, we will never know.
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Original Source:<a href=http://www.newuniversity.org/showArticle.php?id=5713>New University - April 23, 2007</a>
Chammarra Johnson
2007-08-19
Sara Hood
Zachary Gale <newueic@gmail.com>
eng
In Memoriam: Virginia Tech, April 16, 2007
April 16th, 2007
As one who worked with school districts across the country, I know the issue of school shootings is every school official's nightmare. The apparent random nature of all the shootings only makes the nightmare more fearful, for after dozens of workshops at countless conventions, the only thing anyone can say for sure is that they do not know where the awful sounds of gunfire will next echo down the hallways and in the classrooms.
But no one I knew or any of the workshops ever talked about the possibility of the equivalent of a Columbine occurring at a college. Every school district in the country has detailed policies in place if it ever happened to them. Their teachers, administrators and staff are trained in what to do and local law enforcement officials participate in the planning and the drills.
Now that it has happened at a college they, too, will have to undergo similar training and create similar plans. Campuses will seem less safe, new rules and drills will need to be implemented and college officials and teachers will now understand the nightmares of their secondary colleagues.
At the center of that nightmare lies a dark, bottomless pool. As with the Columbines of this country, people will stare into the pool seeking answers. Some will see reflections and try to generalize from them about the nature of the shooter and the victims, but the reflections they see will only be their own. Interest groups will look into the pool and see their causes, filling the talk shows with spokespersons who will say that if we had only done "x" the event would have never happened. Others will take a longer view trying to peer into the depths of the pool seeking confirmation of trends historical, social and psychological. They too will see only their own reflections.
For those at the center of it all, the parents, relatives and friends of the victims and the shooter, those who witnessed it and lived, and those who somehow made a decision to not go to those places at that time the pool will seem more like a maelstrom in which they are caught and cannot get out. Spinning helplessly they will try to maintain some sort of equilibrium, some rationality to keep from drowning in it all. For some this may mean just focusing on the immediate, the details of that which has to be done and it is only days, weeks, even months after that a delayed reaction will overcome them.
To help them survive the maelstrom the college will bring in the teams of counselors whose jobs are to somehow get everyone through this. Going in they know theirs represents a task akin to diving into that bottomless pool and seeking to build something solid. They will work miracles with some and experience heartache with others. Each case will be different, but will they will also hear the echoes of past times like this and try to somehow connect them with what now faces them.
Our country will experience yet another crack in its marble-like structure. And it too will become part of that pool if we let it. But staring into the pool accomplishes nothing, breeding only frustration, despair and even anger. The dark pool will beckon us with its siren songs to stare into its depths or even dive in.
Instead we need to turn away from the pool and remember that at least for a brief tick in time all of us will be as one, united with those Hokies at Virginia Tech into a collective version of Hokie Nation. For now is not a time for politics or debates or even business as usual. Instead families and communities need to realize how fleeting order and life can be and hug one another because that is all they can do. This time as with all those other times we will pledge to love one another a little more and show it. We will swear not to hate and to watch out for those stray souls who slip between the cracks only to emerge from those dark places with guns in their hands. Perhaps this time we can make that oneness last longer.
Perhaps we can remember that kind words can conquer hate and vitriol. Perhaps we can remember to succor the meek, the powerless, the people who have been dealt a bum hand through no fault of their own. Perhaps we can remember that in situations like the Virginia Tech shootings that we are in fact all equal, that it could have been any one of us who died or knew someone who died and yes who knew the shooter, for death recognizes no classes, no races, no languages or cultures as superior. Most of all we can try to nurture that feeling that all of us struggle to feel right now, that feeling of empathy with other human beings we did not know before and whose friends and family we somehow each wish we could help.
Posted by liberalamerican
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Original Source: <a href="http://thestrangedeathofliberalamerica.com/2007/04/16/in-memoriam-virginia-tech-april-16-2007/">http://thestrangedeathofliberalamerica.com/2007/04/16/in-memoriam-virginia-tech-april-16-2007/</a>
Licensed under <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/3.0/">Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported</a>.
Ralph Brauer
2007-06-08
Brent Jesiek
Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported
eng