My heart goes out today to those at Virginia Tech. Why do school shootings seem to always fall during this week in April? I mean there are only two but that is still two too many.
It just doesn't seem right to me for an educational facility, a place of learning, to be a target for this type of violence. But tragedy can strike anywhere at any time. Just yesterday there was a deadly shooting here in Van Nuys in the parking lot of a DMV. Two months ago I was at that same exact DMV and parked in that parking lot while I got my new license. Anywhere. Anytime.
My question is why the campus police did not send out an immediate emergency notification about this alert. I mean, shit, when I was in the dorms or in a lecture hall at college, we'd be evacuated simply if the fire alarm randomly went off. I know people don't want to interrupt classes without good reason, but this seemed like a damn good reason to me.
I can't wrap my head around why someone would want to do something like this. Then again, I can't imagine someone being so messed up in the head to even think about let alone commit such an act.
Another thought that keeps running through my head are the local hospitals. These types of tragic events are what medical centers always train and prepare for, yet secretly I'm sure they always hope they never are in a situation where they have to use their skill set. It's like when I took tae kwon do for 10 years. I always had the confidence to know I would be able to defend myself if attacked, yet I always hoped I would NEVER have to.
Our world can be a scary place. I hope you are all safe. Feel free to comment and speak your mind on this subject. As always, I'd love to hear what you have to say.
LT
A bunch of random thoughts and observations by yours truly.
About Me
- LT
- A personal journal. If you think this blog is too self absorbed, my answer to you is simple. Don't read it :)
1 comment:
These situations are usually driven by some sort of mental illness. This case very much reminds me of David Attias from Santa Barbara. Deaths spawned from a young man who has been battling with his mind, not taking his meds, and isolating himself from others through his awkward behavior and fear of others.
The media always likes to say "there were signs" or use a scapegoat like the university, music, the people who sell guns, etc. You cannot preemptively imprison someone, you cannot stop others from doing their jobs because it might influence others in a negative way, you cannot censor people. Ultimately people need to be responsible for themselves. This individual needed the sense to get help. He needed to recognize his own flaws and medical issues, own up to them and get help. His parents and friends needed to be there to encourage this act, but in the end it's up to this one man. You need to be responsible for yourself, you need to be taught that getting help and asking for help is ok and you need to understand what it means to be selfish. No one else is to blame.
Were there measures that could have been taken? Yes. This is where I feel this case is very similar to Santa Barbara. There had been complaints lodged against both men, both men had a history of mental illness and were not taking their meds, both men previously acted in ways that are not permitted on a college campus, yet were never expelled for these acts. People only listen when shit goes down. However, I feel that if someone wants to do something, they are going to do it regardless of who tries to stop them. If he was expelled would this not have happened? Who knows? I would think he would have gone through with it anyway. Perhaps there needs to be more education and more acceptance of mental illness and strife. But again, in the end, it comes down to taking care of ourselves. Only you are responsible for your actions.
On another note, why are acts like these so American? Why do other parts of the world find this completely appalling while we mourn in despair but are not all too surprised. Why do police officers in New Zealand go unarmed? What is wrong with this country? What is wrong with OUR country? What is wrong with us? I haven't watched a full news program voluntarily since 9/11. Some may call that ignorant, but what I see when I turn on the news, well...ignorance has been more comforting than knowledge these days. Not to mention that those devils with microphones and cameras do not report their sensationalism on internet news sites. Those people that stick cameras in the faces of people at funerals, that knock of the doors of houses of those that just lost their family members, those people...how do they sleep at night.
This rambling is getting me pissed and upset.
End.
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