I have debated all week on whether or not it is appropriate to comment on the events at Virgina Tech. There is a time when we all need to stop shouting our opinions and the most appropriate thing is to just be silent and listen and lend a shoulder and an open ear to those who have suffered and are grieving. As with everyone, my thoughts and prayers go out to the Hokie family. I know several Hokie alumni and they are an unusually close knit group and these events have touched them very deeply.
I have to admit that I have stopped watching the news related to the events at Virginia Tech this week. I quickly reached a point of oversaturation. I know the murderer made a video of himself for all the world to see, but I couldn't stomach to hear it and perhaps didn't want his attempt at self fame to be successful.
From what I have heard, I have great respect for the way school and local officials have handled the situation and for the way the broader community has sought to support and comfort those impacted by the tragedy.
At the risk of being hypocritical to what I have just shared, I think the media coverage, on the other hand, has been at times despicable. For instance, the day of the shooting, they interviewed a Tech student to get his response. When the student responded that he felt angry, the interviewer immediately injected, "You mean with the school for not keeping you safe?" The stunned student replied, "Uh, no. With the person who did this." It really represented to me how much the media loves to quickly assign blame, especially to any traditional institutions. Then again, what should we expect from anything so heavily influenced and controlled by the baby boomer generation? Don't get me wrong, there is a time to explore if mistakes were made so that they could be corrected for the future, but this knee-jerk reaction revealed only a fundamental assumption held by the media and made me wary of how they were presenting things to the public.
The media has now moved to its second favorite thing which is to spin everything into as many different angles as possible. Gun control was of course the first issue they turned to, but I also recently saw a poll that said, "Will the events this week at Virginia Tech impact your decision in the 2008 election?" I don't know about you, but there has been nothing further from my mind this week than the 2008 election. I suspect the next angle will be a comparison to the Iraq war. In the meantime, a lot of families are hurting. This is not an abstract issue for them and these tragic events should not be used as immediate fodder or ammunition for political arguments. Will you please just let these people and the nation stop to grieve?
5 comments:
Honestly, once I heard about the details, one of the first things that popped into my head was "What if one of the victims had been carrying?" I made a comment similar to that in Paula's blog, and it wasn't a simple plug for the 2nd amendment. It exists (among other reasons) for situations like this. Not that completely nearsighted idiots are trying to do away with them, people go around defenseless. And things like this happened.
I'm not saying that if one person was carrying, the whole thing could have been prevented. But I'd bet all I have it would have been not nearly as bad.
It is frustrating to hear about people being helplessly slaughtered like this, and being armed would have evened the score.
Have you ever had a gun pointed at you? From a few feet away, even? I pray you never do, but until such a circumstance falls upon YOU, then I'll consider what you have to say about gun control.
As a member of the Virginia Tech class of 2002, I agree with Steve completely. The media is making this an absolute circus, and none of us want that.
I had to watch a DVD last night because I couldn't focus enough to read and couldn't watch anymore footage on TV. I normally like watching Nancy Grace, and last night I just wanted to choke her.
She was making a big issue about how he drove to the post office to mail the video. Um, no, he may not have. The post office is about half a block from campus. He could have walked from Harper to the Post Office and then to Norris in less than fifteen minutes.
She also asked if he was a "techie" who understood computers. Um, did he go to Virginia Tech? Guess what, Nancy? Virginia Tech is one of the best schools in the country. We're smart. We know how to use electronics. We don't graduate if we can't use computers. That's why we're called "Virginia Tech."
I just got mad and starting watching DVDs.
I really don't want to see the pictures of this murderer anymore. I needed to see them on Tuesday because I needed to see what the bully who killed members of my community looked like. When I saw him I was filled with rage. Then when I realized that when he was killing people, he was actually supposed to be in the class of my favorite professor and good friend, Dr. O, I just cried. We have all cried a lot, slept little, and been forced to hide from the television due to insensitive media coverage.
We love our school. We do not blame our president, the police, the shooters family, his roommates, the women he stalked who did not press charges, the guy who sold him the gun, or anyone or anything else but this murderer who is now dead as well.
For some odd reason, the video of this guy was comforting for me. It helped me to see him as truly mentally ill. He was so clearly incoherent and when he referred to himself as Jesus it gave me some sense of closure because he was obviously so insane.
As to David's comment on my blog, I am not (right now) in any emotional condition to argue with anybody about gun control or anything else for that matter. Maybe in two weeks or so, Hokies will be able to talk about this, but right now we think everyone who is a non-Hokie just needs to shut up and let us grieve.
However, speaking as a Hokie, I will say that regardless of anyone's opinions pro or anti-gun control, guns never have a place in a classroom. Classrooms are where people go to gain enlightment. I'm annoyed by people who carry cell phones into class. There is no reason why anyone should ever have a gun in a classroom. Classrooms are supposed to be safe. You should not have to have defenses in school.
There is also a chance that sure had someone in the class had a firearm, they could have possibly killed the guy first, but they also could have shot another student or police officer by accident if they missed or the target moved in the middle of the mayhem (which is highly likely).
Pro-gun or anti-gun this was going to happen.
While I know this is also not David's intent but rather a reflection of his youth and inexperience, as a Hokie I find it very offensive that anyone would suggest that this could have been prevented had one of these students had a firearm in the class. That's a parallel argument to "if you'd had a gun you wouldn't have been raped/had your car stolen." It is a statement that shifts the blame to where it does not belong: on the victims of this horrible crime.
"Have you ever had a gun pointed at you? From a few feet away, even? I pray you never do, but until such a circumstance falls upon YOU, then I'll consider what you have to say about gun control."
Your statement is a little confusing to me. Care to clarify?
Paula, I knew immediately this was going to be a three ringed circus with the media, which is why I stopped following it as soon as I found out about what happened. Part of this was out of a selfish "I don't have the damn time to deal with this!" attitude, and part of it was because the media is like a damn black hole, sucking your life away. It's not worth it.
Forgive me for being unclear. What I mean is that I have had a gun pointed at me from a few feet away, and if you have had a similar experience, you would know why I feel the way I do, and I will be more inclined to hear your arguement.
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