ANOTHER SCHOOL SHOOTING

(Sad sigh.) Another shooting in a college. The second in what, a week, more than that in the past year. Young people slain, needlessly, senselessly, at the beginning of their lives and dreams.

Why? We may never know. In the Virginia Tech tragedy last spring, the killer left messages that indicated a troubled young man, angry at treatment by peers - and life. In Louisiana, no hints, at least not that I have seen. In Illinois, the same. A seemingly good student, ‘he was nice’ - a phrase that always seems to get in there somewhere. In Louisiana, if I read right, a student in an EMT class, presumably studying to help people, to save them, not to kill them.

Why? The why’s are there, often, in retrospect. The Columbine shooters, teased by their peers for being ‘different’, for not being ‘jocks’, teased and frustrated for not fitting the ‘in crowd’ image of what they needed to be to count, to be someone in that school. The VT shooter, a similar story. The others, perhaps also similar. One teasing, one rebuff, one frustration too many. The news relates that the Illinois shooter had ‘stopped taking medication’, showing that it was know there was a problem.

Why? Because others around let these people get to the point where this far beyond drastic action seemed to be their only choice. Some even helped, albeit not knowing their reaction would be so horrific. Blame television programs, video games, the internet, all you want, and I do believe these play their part in making disaster and death seem too common, too distant from real life, but the real blame lies in other people. Other people who tease and torment, who make light of other’s dreams and problems, who don’t see and don’t stop to lend a hand.

School bullying has become an issue in many places. Teasing and bullying in schools has always been with us. Pointing at someone who is different is easy to do. Try something harder. Try to defend them, try to make everyone see it is their right to be different, and it is not anyone’s right to mock this.

Here’s What I Think: Not a jock, not on the team? So what - there are lots of other outlets and these should be just as important as the sports teams, to the students and faculty and community alike. How many kids would this raise the self-esteem of, to know that people would be watching and cheering them in a school play, a science fair, a poetry reading? Enough to stop one shooter? That would be worth it.

See and hear teasing? Stop it! Stop the big mouths, and support the person it is being done to. Give them a friend, make them important. How many kids would thank you for helping them? Enough to stop one shooter? That would be worth it.

We might not reach them all, but if we each reach only one, that would be worth it. And if enough of us help enough of them, it will all be worth it.