Slowing down... 'CLICK'
Finger wraps around the trigger...
Racing Heart, Raging Mind...
Conscience gone... Adrenaline in Control...
Blacked out of Reason... This seems the only choice
'BBaannnnggg!' The gun explodes...
The childeren scream, they rush and scurry
Shocked and Stunned.
All they are able to do is
RUN!
Columbine, Virginia Tech, Northeren Illinois.
Three of the sixty-one educational instutions around the world which have been caught in cross fire over the past decade. Fifty of which occured in the U.S.
While watching the news coverage of the Virginia Tech shooting at school, the guidence councelor turned to me, throwing this question up in the air, "What make's these people do this? Whose Fault is it?"
From watching the news coverage, students who knew the shooter almost always have the same thing to say, "They were quite, and kept to themselves." "I really didn't know them that much, a solitary person, anti-social." "They were picked on a lot."
All this talk about a solitary person has got me wondering... Is it Thier fault for keeping to themselves, or is it our fault, for leaving them out?
Ever wonder why a circus elephant doesn't just run away? All it's tied to is a tiny rope staked to the ground. Well, when this elephant was a baby, it was heavily chained to a steak in the ground, and the elephant tugged and tugged, and couldn't get free. One day it just gave up.
I think these elephants represent the gunman. For some reason or another, they have tried and tried to fit in and belong to something, but have always been knocked down. Eventually they just give up on society. Felt they didn't belong. Kept to themselves. They don't have someone to talk to. Then they begin to live through one bad day after the next. There doesn't seem to be an end in sight, and who can they blame? Why not everyone? The world seems to be against them, so who do they take it out on? The WORLD.
So how can this be stopped???
Think of today.
Think of everyone you’ve passed in the hallways, at work, school, whatever.
How many people did you stop and chat with?
How many people did you say Hi to and mean it?
How many people did you say Hi to just so it wouldn’t seem rude?
How many people did you politely smile and nod at?
How many people did you look at for a split second and look away hoping you didn’t make eye contact. You see this person everyday, but you never speak to eachother, you don't know them, or anything about them. Nobody does, this person keeps to themselves...
One problem with society is we tend keep people at a distance. We don’t extend ourselves unless they seem to have something in common with us. If they look like they won’t fit in, we leave them alone. We don’t even give them a chance. We look at them and think they’re doing good on their own, they don’t need me interrupting their life. Or I really don’t want to get involved.
We keep these people at a distance, and then we leave them there. Those who don’t give up like the elephant did, force their way into your life, talking to you, trying to fit in, bouncing from clique to clique until they find one that accepts them. But those who fail, give up, and we just leave them be.
What needs to happen is, more and more, we need to force our way into their lives. Open these people up, get them talking. You’ll find out they may have a lot to say, but choose to stay quiet because they feel that nobody cares.
Essentially, we all are part of the problem. We all have our elephants. There are those who are too afraid to force their way into Society’s life. And there are those in Society who are too afraid to extend out to the people who have fallen back, lost trust, and have given up on us. What’s the worst that can happen if you decide to brake free of your rope? You might just make a new friend; you might see different views of a topic. You might bring this world, which is rapidly falling apart, one step closer together.
Time Line of Recent World Wide School Shootings..
http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0777958.html
Not to turn this into a political issue, but I think at least part of the plethora of school shootings that have occurred in the last decade can be blamed on gun control (or lack thereof). Think of Columbine. I'm sorry, but in my opinion our government should make it daaamn difficult for 15 and 16-year-olds to get their hands on guns. I don't think that access to a gun caused the problem, but it certainly didn't help. Potential school shooters need guidance and counselling, true. Unfortunately, in today's world guidance is a lot more difficult to get hold of than guns, and that's exactly what happens at many tragic school shootings.