2008 Woodie Awards
Virginia Tech shooting was tragedy, too late for solutions
Editorial
Issue date: 4/20/07 Section: Opinion
Originally published: 4/19/07 at 4:00 PM EST
Last update: 4/19/07 at 4:28 PM EST
- Page 1 of 1
Sometimes, nothing can be done to prevent a tragedy.
Monday morning was a sad time to be an American after watching or hearing the breaking news from Virginia Tech.
Not only was the rampage a tragedy, but the fact that there was hardly any warning or sufficient time for students and faculty to respond to the threat.
According to public statements, the shooting began at 7:15 a.m. A man and woman were shot in a dormitory before the shooter moved on to the second building.
The first emergency e-mail was sent out to the campus at 9:26 a.m. By then, it was too late to do any good for anybody. When the authority arrived at the scene, doors were chained and the police were unable to do much for anybody.
Even though it doesn't guarantee that lives would've been saved, it certainly wouldn't hurt if classes were cancelled as soon as fired shots were heard. It is always better to be safe than sorry, especially when you are talking about gun shots.
As for all the other could'ves and should'ves, we can't get too caught up in pointing fingers.
Nobody wanted this to happen, and sometimes nothing can be done to avoid certain situations.
The only positive that comes out of this shooting is togetherness and support from total strangers across America. Just as the vigils and national support rose to the top of the days, months and years following 9/11, the same will follow the Virginia Tech shooting.
It's easy to say that there should be security systems and plan Bs in place to prevent a shooting on a campus, but not many are practical at stopping such incidents until they have already started.
High schools and campuses can continue to practice lock-down drills with students, but that can be as pointless as hiding under your desk during the old air-raid drills.
Maybe the population that should be affected the most by this tragedy is high school and elementary school guidance counselors and social workers. Instead of trying to prevent the actual violence, prevent the anger and emotions that lead to violent rampages like this one.
School is a system that responds to fighting and misdoings with negative reinforcement - detention, expulsion, community service, fines. Punishment in schools has been the same since the beginning of time - maybe change is needed.
It wasn't a member of the community responsible for the shooting, it was a member of the student body - he lost his desire to live and control of his actions. Either way, what's done is done.
All we can do now is keep the victims and their families in our thoughts and prayers.
Monday morning was a sad time to be an American after watching or hearing the breaking news from Virginia Tech.
Not only was the rampage a tragedy, but the fact that there was hardly any warning or sufficient time for students and faculty to respond to the threat.
According to public statements, the shooting began at 7:15 a.m. A man and woman were shot in a dormitory before the shooter moved on to the second building.
The first emergency e-mail was sent out to the campus at 9:26 a.m. By then, it was too late to do any good for anybody. When the authority arrived at the scene, doors were chained and the police were unable to do much for anybody.
Even though it doesn't guarantee that lives would've been saved, it certainly wouldn't hurt if classes were cancelled as soon as fired shots were heard. It is always better to be safe than sorry, especially when you are talking about gun shots.
As for all the other could'ves and should'ves, we can't get too caught up in pointing fingers.
Nobody wanted this to happen, and sometimes nothing can be done to avoid certain situations.
The only positive that comes out of this shooting is togetherness and support from total strangers across America. Just as the vigils and national support rose to the top of the days, months and years following 9/11, the same will follow the Virginia Tech shooting.
It's easy to say that there should be security systems and plan Bs in place to prevent a shooting on a campus, but not many are practical at stopping such incidents until they have already started.
High schools and campuses can continue to practice lock-down drills with students, but that can be as pointless as hiding under your desk during the old air-raid drills.
Maybe the population that should be affected the most by this tragedy is high school and elementary school guidance counselors and social workers. Instead of trying to prevent the actual violence, prevent the anger and emotions that lead to violent rampages like this one.
School is a system that responds to fighting and misdoings with negative reinforcement - detention, expulsion, community service, fines. Punishment in schools has been the same since the beginning of time - maybe change is needed.
It wasn't a member of the community responsible for the shooting, it was a member of the student body - he lost his desire to live and control of his actions. Either way, what's done is done.
All we can do now is keep the victims and their families in our thoughts and prayers.
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