Your view on the Virginia Tech massacre: when will these incidents stop?

Question

do you think these people who perpertrate these massacres are just mentally unstable or do you think, as with Dylan Klebold and Harris, Cho may have been bullied in his life, making him bitter towards others?

Your opinions

Answer 1

Dave,
these incidents are going to continue --
People who would normally crawl into a closet and blow their own brains to God's back door -- now have a last ditch option for leaving a "legacy" for themselves by way of the media and the "benchmark" record keeping --- bizarre trait --- of making "cultural studies" of them !!

It has already began with this lunatic---before long at all now-- we will know FAR more about this guy's life and times-- where he came from--what his life entailed -- ect ect ect ---than we will EVER know about his victims !! There will be books on this and even books on HIM !! It is a sickness that there is no known cure for --- and it comes from the guts of the bloodlust within the social order !!

So, in the future---every single little slug of a nobody who is faced with cashing in their own ticket ---will be faced with the option to leave a "mark" for themselves that gets them at least mentioned at having been alive !!
Sad commentary on this "brave new world" we've created !!!

Answer 2

I don't believe people are born MENTALLY UNSTABLE. Society makes them unstable I believe Cho is bullied when he is in West Virginia High. Try watching the video he sent to NBC and try to understand it in his point of view. Ask the question WHY five times and you'll come up with a plausible reason.
As much as American wants to show the world how right their ways are - In the bigger sense, Americans are a bunch bullies. Much like the Germans in 1940s belief of Aryan supremacy, so are Americans today believing in Caucasian Supremacy. America is always better than others. It is this way of thinking that is translated to the younger generations. I am not symphatizing with CHO - what he did was utterly despicable. But this kind of incident will never stop unless america truly embraces the logic that all races are truly equal.

Answer 3

These types of things tend to be perpetrated by people who were bullied, or viewed as outcasts, or were thought of as "weird" or crazy, or who are just straight up mentally disturbed. So while I don't know whether these types of incidents will ever really stop happening, I think institutions really starting to pay more attention to the emotional and psychological needs of their students and staff could really help things.

The news reports said that the guy had written some pretty disturbing poetry and rants. If that'd caused staff to be concerned, they should've talked to him after the first incident; not really to diagnose him in any way, but just to check in on him to see how he's doing. I sorta got the impression from that rant video he sent to the TV station that he sorta felt that no one cared. So if people'd gotten to him sooner, maybe things could've been different.

I think if there's anything positive that could've come out of tragedies like these, it's a harsh lesson that when people get outcasted or bullied, it's not just "a part of growing up" or "kids being kids" but rather one person or a group of people legitimately hurting someone and another person or another group legitimately being hurt. I feel that it can hopefully serve as a traffic light kinda thing. I don't think traffic lights really came along until enough incidents proved how dangerous the roads are and that something had to be done. Maybe this incident will finally hammer into people's heads that bullying, harrassment and student-to-student abuse is a real thing, students mental health issues are real things and that schools need to to re-evaluate how they handle such issues.

Answer 4

It's a tragic event. It's so devasting when we think about it. Those students woke up one morning, worrying about what other college students worry about. Paper deadlines, midterms, and everything that we associate with college. Then one person, one disturbed person, changes their lives forever. All the sudden, there is something else to worry about.

This sort of thing isn't supposed to happen anywhere, let alone on a college campus.

Things like this make you realize that no place is safe. Not your home, not your school, no where. And that scares us.

What makes a person do this? Is it the anger they bottle inside? The sheer hate that has filled their lungs? To watch others suffer too? Or is it just the rush of the moment, pulling the trigger, knowing that you'll be known for eternity? What is it that drives a person to step over the boundaries of sanity? Where does this darkness come from? Where does it end?

Answer 5

A lot of the people who carry out these acts are mentally unstable, otherwise they wouldn't do them. He may well have been brought up in a violent home environment, and so violence is a way of life to him. Or he might have been repressed and abused, and that festers in body and mind until one day, it explodes into an incident like this.

These incidents will stop when the two root causes are rooted out:

1 Crazy and wholly outdated US gun laws
2 The meritocracy and elitism of US colleges

Unfortunately, the National Rifle Association brings in a lot of votes for politicians, so they will probably be too spineless and reluctant to do anything about gun control.

Answer 6

there is a possibility that the teen was bullied. He might have felt bitter towards other members of society. As human beings, unfortunately our feelings and sympathy and empathy varies. In my instance i feel a bittersweet about this case. I am still thinking that this could all be avoided if the teen had at least been to one meeting with the uni counsellors. I pray and hope that mankind will look at each another, today tommorrow and the preceeding days in a simmilar light, without prejudice, misconceptions and viral belifes.Lets not kill the Karma, Lets not start a Fight,Its not worth the drama just for a beautiful lie.

Answer 7

its really really sad. makes me so sad...

i dont like how the reporters are up on everyone like crazy. yesterday one reporter asked a parent "how would you feel if you heard you child had been shot?" WHAT THE HECK! i would have slapped her in the face and said.... yeah? 1000 times worse than that!

i think its so horrible and selfish of this asian guy to do that. i guess he just shot the first two and then decided... well hes gonna die or go to jail so why not make a name for himself... even if a bad one...

i think its wrong that they say the school should have done more. of course its easy to say that now after its happened, but no one can say unless they were there. i mean if i were in class and someone came and shot my professer would i have jumped on him and attacked him or would i hide under my desk hoping he wouldnt see me? i just dont know. i would have been scared and everyone was. they should stop criticizing the school, they are going through enough already.

that kid was just mental and very sick minded... he was going to do something bad no matter what and he would have found a way to do it no matter what anyone did.

the other sad part is that now the media will probably go after the shooters family... cause hes dead they take it out on his family. which really isnt fair at all... it would be humiliating to be them. to be known as the parents or the sister of the kid who killed 32 innocent people...

i pray for everyone who is affected... the shooters family, the victims, and especially their families and friends. theyre in our thought and prayer.

Answer 8

The gun issue seems to be brought to the forefront, when another aspect is overlooked as it was back in 1999 in columbine - why do these people do this and why is it always linked to the american places of learning. I'll tell you why, the winner and loser attitude of the american education system - it seems to be a popularity contest that produces two kinds of people. The arrogant high school/ college kid you see in the movies is worryingly not a stereotype. i have been to a few colleges in the usa and it is very accurate.

I am not saying what happened at virginia tech is a result of this but it damn sure was at columbine. Yea the guns are a problem but why do people what to do this in the first place.

Answer 9

I don't know what to think. I was bullied by just about everyone growing up, and it never even crossed my mind to go get a gun and start massacring people. I've also had my share of bf's break up with me or cheat on me, and again, I didn't feel the urge to wipe out masses of people--yeah, I wanted to throttle some of the guys involved, but I diidn't, and once I wanted to drive my car off a bridge or something, but I didn't. I got over it and moved on. I just don't know what's with people these days, and I don't see a simple solution.

Answer 10

Until politicians are willing to address the "real" social issues in this country we will continue to see these kinds of tragedies. No amount of laws passed or security measures will ever prevent something like this from happening again. Until we come togther as a nation & community & address the underlying social/economic problems things will only get worse.
Just like to add, that the "gun culture" had nothing to do with this, as the shooter wasn't even an American. But people like to find an easy answer, apparently restricting personal freedoms works for them.