The reality of the world that we live in is that it is as unpredictable as a flash flood. It is a dangerous world when it comes down to it, but it is a shame that school is becoming not a haven for students, but a place like any other that is susceptible to death and injury.
With the recent shooting at Virginia Tech, my view of the world we live in has again become morbid. How is it that a place meant for the bettering of student’s minds can experience such a tragic event that casts such a long shadow?
Nevertheless, can any future massacres be prevented? With Virginia Tech totally over 25,000 students, one can easily believe that contacting all those people about the first shooting would have been very difficult.
We are now living in a world where nothing can be unexpected. Once a safe haven to many students, schools are becoming more dangerous as the days fly by. And what can we do about it?
What are people going to do to prevent the next college massacre from happening?
I am so sad and shocked by what happened today. Even walking across my own campus today, I can sense that everyone is really sobered and shocked at what happened at VT.
I know what you mean--what can we do? In fact, just a few weeks ago there was a double murder (murder and a suicide) in one of the dorms at the University of Washington. I plan to go to UW in just a couple of months. :(
But like the officer on the news said, "We can't have an armed guard outside of classrooms every day of the year" (that's not word-for-word). Schools are open environments, as are many other public places. What can we do?
Did you hear that the gunman was actually wearing a bullet-proof vest? And then he took his own life? And why would he wait two hours between the shots fired? And how come the entire school wasn't locked down when the first two people were killed in the dorm--a whole two hours before Norris Hall happened?
Again, I, like all students across the nation today, am extremely humbled, horrified, and shocked.
Allison
"Be the change you want to see in the world" ~Mahatma Gandhi
I know what you're getting at about being prepared, but the very nature of the question "can future massacres be prevented" doesn't work, because you would never know if an incident was prevented, because it didn't happen.
Yeah, it's a pretty grim world, and it's hard to live in an environment, especially at a large school, where the likelihood that the guy who swiped your ID in your dorm will fall asleep and crash his car into a tree at 70 miles per hour driving back from winter break is actually real.
I'm not saying measures can't be taken in efforts to prevent anything this catastrophic from happening again, but I hesitate to say that it's an entirely preventable disaster.
Preparable (against) yes, preventable no.
That we could predict the next massacre. I wish that things that didnt happen like they did. but no matter how hard i wish that doesn't help. Spreading the word against gun violence does. Having stronger violations and punishments for breaking gun laws does. How did he get those guns is a good question????
Well, the serial numbers were filed off, so I imagine they were stolen... from where, I'm not sure.
I didn't look up the history of VA Tech before posting this, but I suspect that it's not quite so violent as this recent event to put it lightly. It makes me think of a peaceful village that was easily mauled by Vikings. Such occurrence is terrible, unfair mutilation.
As far as preventative measures, it takes a witness with an exact function for reporting such instances successfully, a panic button.
We have banks with panic buttons, why not schools with similar devices? Emergencies emerge urgently.