We have all been reading about it and seeing it on the news. A horrible day when a 23-year old student goes on a rampage and shoots 32 people, then shoots himself. This happened on a college campus. I work on a college campus. No one expects these kinds of things to happen on a College Campus. I do. I don’t expect it, but it doesn’t really surprise me. As everywhere in this world there are good people and there are bad people. There are well-balanced people and there are people who have problems. Some problems are minor and can be dealt with with the help of friends and family, the assistance of administrators and counselors. There are some people who have more serious problems. We’ve heard about them. Unfortunately we sometimes hear about them AFTER the facts. And then the same question always comes up: were there warning signs?
In this particular case, there were. His English professor Nikki Giovanni and the Chair of the English Department Lucinda Roy explain that they had concerns about him:
At one point, most of Giovanni’s students didn’t show up for her class, supposedly because they were afraid of Cho. As a result, the chairwoman of the English department, Lucinda Roy, agreed to teach Cho privately. The NYT says Roy was nervous about being alone with Cho that she set up a system so that her assistant would know if she was in trouble. Roy shared her concerns with university officials but they said that nothing could be done since there were no specific threats.
THIS is what concerns me and I think that those of you who read this and work in schools and colleges know what I mean. I have heard this sentence before. I won’t go into details, but I wonder if this is the policy in all schools and colleges. If it is, it is wrong and needs some serious looking at. Of course one doesn’t want to constantly be alarmist and create false accusations or fears. But if there are clear warning signs, if one finds that a fellow student or co-worker shows signs of mental imbalance, one reports it and nothing is done because “there are no specific threats” there is something seriously wrong with the system. It angers me. I have been through it and I have been asked this question: Do you feel threatened? I said the wrong thing. I said no because it is not an easy question to answer. I should have said: Not right now, but I can imagine feeling threatened at some point. Because I and others said no, the case is dropped.
I repeat it. There is something wrong with the system. Yes, we are a country of overexaggerated fears. But let’s look at what is right around us. Really look and listen. I am saddened at how little people take responsibility for what is around them. We are so ego-centered that we don’t care about what happens around us. But what bothers me more is that when we ARE concerned and we take the right steps (as that professor and chair did) a STOP sign is thrown at us and we are told that nothing can be done because there are no specific threats.
It is VERY frustrating and something needs to be done about this.
