I think I’ve taken a couple of days to respond to the massacre at Virginia Tech out of shock, sorrow, and – honestly – the feeling of fear these school-related shootings inspire. Even after having come of age in the era of 1980s violence that I explore in Crystelle Mourning, I still feel that these school shootings are way too close to home, too terrifying, for me. As I hear about the troubled young man who took over 30 lives before taking his own, I can’t help but think about the college where I work and the stories I’ve heard from some of my colleagues. Sometimes I’m amazed at the people who are allowed to stay in school, people who really need time off for help, help not just with coping with the demands of the undergraduate experience, but also help coping with the realities in their personal lives that professors, frankly, are not qualified to handle.
It seems to me that, as we mourn, we need to aim for more caring school environments. I’m not calling for coddling; rather, I’d like a clear system that’s in place to help clearly troubled young people get the help they need. With help, enough time off to learn how to manage his condition, perhaps the Virginia Tech shooter could have come back to school, graduated, and gone on to have a successful life. Certainly, at the very least, proper care would have given his victims the opportunity to do just that.
We need people to make executive decisions. I think of Aaliyah’s fatal plane crash. Where was the person whose job it was to make an executive decision at that airport? I want the person who was supposed to say, “Look, the plane’s too heavy. I can’t let you fly until you unload some of this weight.”
Likewise, I think we need school counseling professionals that professors can refer students to, professionals with the authority to say, “Look, too much is going on here. I can’t let you back in school until we work together on some of these personal issues.”
And, if a student does slip through that crack, I want to know the school security team knows how to lockdown a campus – an entire campus – until the dust from the smoking gun clears.
I can only wonder what the survivors are going through at Virginia Tech. My prayers go out to them during this difficult time.
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Being a College Professor and a writing teacher, one is often the first authority in the College to know that a student is seriously mentally ill. One sees how the student interacts with others, and we read the student’s writing. In my years teaching I have run into this problem of having a mentally ill person in my class several times.
I have feared an ill student. Other students in class have also been afraid. Being on the front-line, a captive audience, so to speak, we must be believed when we try and engage the administration to help us in dealing with an unstable personality.
Part of the problem is that many colleges are run like businesses. Colleges are large bureaucratic organizations. Administrations fear legal repercussions, and litigation. There is a shrugging off of personal responsibility because of these vague fears of getting into legal difficulties. In addition, there is no protocol about what to do if there is a problem with security in the class room.
It is indeed unfortunate that events like these have to come about for us to begin to think practically.
I agree Eisa, there needs to be a protocol that Professors and other students can engage when there is a person who is clearly unstable in class. Among the sheer number of students going to college, statistically one is bound to encounter mental illness a number of times in a teaching career.
My thoughts too are with the families in Virginia.
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It’s funny, I’ve also been thinking of 9-11. I wonder if most people know that there probably isn’t really a plan in place at their children’s schools if a similar attack – God forbid – should take place. I feel like my friends who work on Wall Street rec’d better preparedness materials and information than I, or any other teacher I know, received after 9-11.
You’re right, I think, about the corporatization of schooling, especially at the college level, but in grade schools as well. Meanwhile, who among us feels safe these days?
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I fully agree that there should be more attention given to other issues that students might be facing. I guess people may feel that it’s not their place to say something, or that they’re being a busy-body or something like that. But when you outweigh the risks, preventing a bloody massacre definitely takes precedence.
Not only that, but there are too many individuals out there today who feel that if they talk to someone (besides family or friends) about their issues that something is extremely wrong. They fire back, “I’m not crazy!” But we tend to forget that we are our worst enemies.
Finally, i think that asking a student to take a hiatus before reentering school is not in the educational system’s best interest. We may be here to learn, but they are here to make money.Not that every student and even faculty member walking around all campuses are walking time bombs, but many students neglect the issues in their personal lives just to get that piece of paper after four years. The occasional out-burst at a friend or passer-by is mistaken as just someone having a bad day, and not someone having a bad year or life.
So, Professor, I think that the ideas you’ve considered are good ones. But everyone would have to work together to make it happen.
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During my childhood years I often remember my great-grandmother saying “money is the root of all evil”. She was so wise!
To your point with respect to Aaliyah’s fatal plane crash. The person whose job it was to make an executive decision not to allow the plane to fly that day did not step up to make that decision. Why? Money. They don’t want to lose money. In fact the pilot stated that the plane was too heavy. It was Aaliyah’s handlers that said ‘make it work’ so to speak. No one stood up because of the fear of losing money and/or the greed of wanting more money and people died because of it.
The same holds true with respect to the VA Tech tradegy. Yes, this young man was obviously troubled–but why didn’t the owner of gunshop question him prior to selling him TWO guns. Common sense would dictate tasking the following questions: Why does a college student need a 9MM gun that can spay 50+ bullets before reloading? and most importantly… Why would he want one? If the owner of the gun shop would have taken a moment of pause prior to selling him the gun in the first place…perhaps we wouldn’t have lost 32 students. Again, you may find yourself asking (as I do) Why? Was the gun shop so desperate to sell a gun for money and for profit….. judging from these events, I guess the answer is YES.
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Can’t leave out the issues of gun control – and money. You guys are right on point!