somehow, 'dysfunctional' just doesnt cut it
the virginia tech massacre claimed 33 lives, including the south korean killer, cho seung-hui, who probably pulled the trigger on himself after feeling satisfied with 32, making it the most deadliest school shooting in the u.s. to date.
u.s. seems to be rampant with these sort of campus killings: the infamous columbine massacre, uni texas massacre and now this. it just seems so surreal that someone would want to do this. to walk in, greet everyone nonchalantly with a 'hello. how are you?' before casually letting one pop in the professor's chest and moving on to the rest of the student population.
how do students in the states study eveyday without fear that someone might just walk in with easily-purchased guns and let a whole barrage of bullets go flying? and even if it is suppressed, how the hell can you do it knowing that school, the second-home, can no longer be the haven than everyone thought it to be? in short, how can an ordinary american actually feel safe in schools?
and what is going on in these killers minds to pull of such a (heroic?) stupid act? in the columbine massacre, a popular theory is that computer games, media and pop cultural influence brainwashed eric harris and dylan kebloid into taking down 13 people before blowing their own brains out. other theories include insecurity, depression and plain angst with the popular jocks which somehow escalated to anger with the whole world. to the majority, these feelings may seem superficial and is something that most of us will grow out of once maturity sticks. but there are some that might react differently and their reaction may result in something deadly. should we target these lot? should we isolate them, away from us? after all it is for our own safety.
take cho for example. cho was an english major whose essays, according to lecturers, were violent, full or profanity and macabre. a teacher actually gave him an a- because she was afraid that she would anger him otherwise. another said that she would sooner have quit than be in the same class with him. students found him quiet, strange and spaced-out most of the time. his room mate found him staring at the blank wall one day for no apparent reason. he was even accused of stalking. professors and students reported this behaviour to the campus police and councillors but nothing was done. responding to a teacher's request, the university said that they could not withdraw him from a course unless he voluntarily drops out.
cho exhibited plenty of signs and even though these were all reported and made known to the relevant authorities, nothing substantial was really done to really curb his problems. could this have been prevented? could the university have done something more, maybe council him better, send him to a psych ward? can we do anything?
two days after the killings, nbc received a package from cho containing photos, videos and a manifesto. in it he declared his hatred for the rich claiming that they terrorised his soul and torched his conscience. furthermore, he abdolves all responsibility by saying:
'you had your chance and ways to avoid today. but you have decided to spill my blood. you forced me into a corner and gave me only one option. the decision was yours. now you have blood on your hands that will never wash off'.
he even made himself out to be some sort of martyr, likening himself to christ.
to watch snippets of the videos that he sent, go here. it actually made me feel uncomfortable. to have a glimpse of how weird cho really was, i've linked two of cho's plays here: mr brownstone and richard mcbeef.
this kid was definitely a few short of a dozen.
the virginia tech massacre claimed 33 lives, including the south korean killer, cho seung-hui, who probably pulled the trigger on himself after feeling satisfied with 32, making it the most deadliest school shooting in the u.s. to date.
u.s. seems to be rampant with these sort of campus killings: the infamous columbine massacre, uni texas massacre and now this. it just seems so surreal that someone would want to do this. to walk in, greet everyone nonchalantly with a 'hello. how are you?' before casually letting one pop in the professor's chest and moving on to the rest of the student population.
how do students in the states study eveyday without fear that someone might just walk in with easily-purchased guns and let a whole barrage of bullets go flying? and even if it is suppressed, how the hell can you do it knowing that school, the second-home, can no longer be the haven than everyone thought it to be? in short, how can an ordinary american actually feel safe in schools?
and what is going on in these killers minds to pull of such a (heroic?) stupid act? in the columbine massacre, a popular theory is that computer games, media and pop cultural influence brainwashed eric harris and dylan kebloid into taking down 13 people before blowing their own brains out. other theories include insecurity, depression and plain angst with the popular jocks which somehow escalated to anger with the whole world. to the majority, these feelings may seem superficial and is something that most of us will grow out of once maturity sticks. but there are some that might react differently and their reaction may result in something deadly. should we target these lot? should we isolate them, away from us? after all it is for our own safety.
take cho for example. cho was an english major whose essays, according to lecturers, were violent, full or profanity and macabre. a teacher actually gave him an a- because she was afraid that she would anger him otherwise. another said that she would sooner have quit than be in the same class with him. students found him quiet, strange and spaced-out most of the time. his room mate found him staring at the blank wall one day for no apparent reason. he was even accused of stalking. professors and students reported this behaviour to the campus police and councillors but nothing was done. responding to a teacher's request, the university said that they could not withdraw him from a course unless he voluntarily drops out.
cho exhibited plenty of signs and even though these were all reported and made known to the relevant authorities, nothing substantial was really done to really curb his problems. could this have been prevented? could the university have done something more, maybe council him better, send him to a psych ward? can we do anything?
two days after the killings, nbc received a package from cho containing photos, videos and a manifesto. in it he declared his hatred for the rich claiming that they terrorised his soul and torched his conscience. furthermore, he abdolves all responsibility by saying:
'you had your chance and ways to avoid today. but you have decided to spill my blood. you forced me into a corner and gave me only one option. the decision was yours. now you have blood on your hands that will never wash off'.
he even made himself out to be some sort of martyr, likening himself to christ.
to watch snippets of the videos that he sent, go here. it actually made me feel uncomfortable. to have a glimpse of how weird cho really was, i've linked two of cho's plays here: mr brownstone and richard mcbeef.
this kid was definitely a few short of a dozen.
<< Home