Virginia Tech

Virginia Tech: Who is to be blamed?

What is it that makes men, and in some cases boys get up in the morning, slaughter innocent civilians in a place of learning and then end their own lives?

I believe this question has been on the minds of the public ever since the breaking news of the Virginia Tech Shootings. The aftermath of every school shooting is somewhat similar in the rituals and tributes given to victims of the tragedy. Every tragedy is however different and full of baffling details. A recent article in the times magazine reported detailed statistics on campus deaths, trying to make sense of this massacre. Despite a decreasing trend in violent crimes being spotting in campus, a generally rare incident the Virginia Tech shooting is by far the most tragic with the highest number of deaths recorded. Who is to be blamed for this outburst of violence?

Let us first take a look at the two semi-automatic pistols used in his rampage. Virginia law restricts customers to buying one gun a month and does not require any licensing such as permits or safety certificates. Cho Seung-Hui had followed all federal and Virginia laws when he made his purchases; he had proper identification and had no criminal records. The use of guns in crimes against college students attributed to 9% of the various weapons of assault, while 65% comes without weapons. Throw a stone in America and the chances of you hitting some one who owns a pistol will be relatively high. It is an American culture to be adequately armed against assaults. Owning a pistol may alter the course of a tragedy. In a Mississippi high school, an armed administrator apprehended a school shooter. In a Pennsylvania high school, an armed merchant prevented further deaths. Perhaps an armed teacher or student present in Virginia tech could have prevented the resultant of so many deaths.

Focusing on the identity of the killer. A young South Korean-born man who, according to fellow students, teachers, counselors and even his own family, was incapable of communicating with others personally. The media has in many ways emphasized Cho’s ethnicity and economic background by wondering what would set off a hardworking, quiet, South Korean immigrant from a middle class dry-cleaner-owning family. This behavior was unexpected from South Korean immigrants with much more expected from Middle Easterners and Muslims after the 911 incident. According to Cho's grand aunt in South Korea, Cho's parents had offered autism as an explanation for his behavior. Cho's flat emotional affect was evident through middle and high school years, during which he was bullied for speech difficulties. Relatives thought he might be a mute. Or mentally ill," reported the New York Times. Cho's underlying psychological diagnosis remains a matter of speculation.

Technology has played a huge part in the Virginia Tech mass murder, from Cho’s chilling videos to the memorials downloaded on Youtube. According to an early report in the Washington Post, the Virginia Tech shooter, Cho Seung-Hui, was a fan of violent video games, especially Counter-strike, which Microsoft publishes for the Xbox. As much as we all think games are fine, the truth is that games can be very disturbing and quite visceral. Are kidding ourselves if we ignore the fact that immersion in violence doesn't somewhat desensitize us to it. And if you can become desensitized to violence being in your right mind, is it such a great leap to accept that a person who is already suffering a mental illness would not be more affected? People like Cho are usually depressed, rejected or bullied with psychotic/sociopathic tendencies to begin with. It wouldn't matter if they were playing violent games, they are already a ball of fire building up to explode.

We cannot really pinpoint who is to be held responsible for this tragic happening. Neither should we spend too much effort in trying to hold someone responsible. The key takeaway here is that we have to prevent these unstable personalities to start work again. School attacks are rarely impulsive, teachers and parents should be alert to certain warning signs that a student is succumbing to violent urges.