The Cure for Murder on Campus
Dray Carson
The internet is filled with articles arguing the need for stricter gun laws as a solution to the campus shooting phenomenon. And while in theory, stricter access to guns should result in less shootings, the reality is that our society has some of the strictest gun laws in history, yet the trend of campus shootings has only grown throughout the years. And, at the risk of sounding offensive, I would like to say that I find it insulting, at best, to have such arguably intelligent writers and politicians respond to this epidemic with such canned answers. When are we, as a society, going to to stop finding comfort in band-aid solutions, and start addressing the underlying cause of what makes an individual lash out in such an extreme way?
I would argue that until we, as a community, own the responsibility for creating a lasting change, episodes like the Virginia Tech shooting will persist and only worsen. For us to really discuss a cure for campus massacres, we must first evaluate the profile of a gunman. Second, we need to discuss why fundamental warning signs from killers go unnoticed, and finally, we have to confront how, as a society, we have neglected the responsibility to create a culture that embraces the value of life on earth.
When looking at the profile of gunmen in campus shooting, historically, it is evident that there is a vengeful characteristic present, which often leads to lashing out as a form of being more than just noticed, but understood. Our college years are supposed to be the time where we learn to distinguish ourselves, and gain understanding of how the real world operates. Yet instead, for many, it becomes a time of humiliation, suppression and exposure to the brutal hierarchies that exist.
It becomes clear that the childhood experience of "the survival of the fittest" does not really end in grade school - rather it is only amplified throughout the years, and the intensity of it all can be felt in the collegiate atmosphere. It is those bullied souls that, at some point during their limited experience on earth, came to the conclusion that their life is not really that important to others, and so in turn, they lack the value of other's lives. Therefore, more often than not, their victims are random targets - as a part of the "community" that the killer is attempting to gain retribution from. Additionally, many of these "campus shooters" end their rampage by turning the gun on themselves.
The act of taking their own life, illustrates their deep belief that the damaging experiences they have encountered through their life, will only continue - and so they take their own life , to eliminate having to endure a future of abuse - of being misunderstood. Clearly, even if there was a drastic, complete elimination for citizens to have guns - these situations would still occur, but via means of other weapons (knives, home-made bombs or weapons etc.). Because it is not the weapon that is sparking the massacre, it is the individual.
Second, there is a disconnect in society surrounding what it really means to be close to one another, which allows fundamental warning signs of these incidents, to remain unoticed. The fact that someone can create an entire personality that would plot and even follow through with such horrendous crimes, and all along fall under the radar screen of those closest to them, only says to me that we as a society have become so delusional about what it really means to have a one on one personal communication and connection with another human body. Perhaps we were never taught how to really feel the depths of one another. Perhaps we have never felt that anyone has ever really been able to connect with us to that point. Or maybe it is just that we are too afraid of the vulnerability that it takes to even go there with another person.
These killings are a public form of communication and retribution from the shooters, who have decided that this is ultimately the only way to express what has remained unnoticed inside of them. And for whatever reason, I would say that the continuation of, what I would call (forgive me for being so blunt), a superficial way of being "close" with one another, will allow these "alter ego" personalities to exist and "shock us all" when they lash out in an attempt to be noticed and understood.
Lastly, as a society, we have neglected the responsibility for creating a culture that embraces the value of life on Earth. We are sedated by a plethora of belief systems in our country - that though different in may ways, all focus on happiness and bliss that is only found in the "afterlife". There is a lack of global awareness of the ability of the human body to live, and not die. Instead, death is seen as inevitable, and essentially there is a popular belief that it is "only a matter of time before death knocks at your door". With that jaded and depressing reality, the question is not "if" you will die, rather it is "how" you will die. The value of life on Earth is not seen as permanent. This mindset lessens the human responsibility to create a culture that finds resolution through non-violent means, and cherish the lives of all, no matter what the circumstances. Instead, we take the quick way out, disposing of the individuals that we deem unfit for our world, and using our "big guns" to obtain what we want, and defend what we have.
Our intellectual minds and intuition are seen as more fitting to create plans of attack, rather than plans of resolution. The animalistic genetics that causes humans to revert to such barbaric means of expression, must be seen for what it is, and attacked - as a community - at its core. The reality is that, for the most part, the gunmen that are involved in these campus episodes didn't just come up with the notion of gunning down their classmates and teachers all by themselves - someone or something put it there.
Violence, as a form of lashing out, is seen everywhere. The numbness to violence is perpetuated through the fact that the media surrounds us with 24hr coverage of violent actions; video games focus on shooting and killing as a form of scoring points, and most TV shows and movies have some form of violence or a violent charcter lashing out over even the most trivial issues. All this exposure from one's youth embeds the impression that "violence is normal". Now you can even go to a website and become part of over 50 active college games that focus on assimilating campus massacres through assigning an individual certain students to "kill" and the onsite campus locations for those shootings to take place.
The disposal of human life is so nonchalant in our society, and there is such a disconnection to the finality of death, it is no wonder that this epidemic is not only growing, but the killer's "real life storybook" episodes are becoming more dramatic. I feel that without the fundamental valuing of life and the human body as more than just a "temporary" house for our soul, a complete cure for this epidemic is unattainable.
So, sorry politicians, stricter gun laws just won't cut it. To end campus massacres, we must end the massacre in our own bodies. This can only be accomplished in a sustainable fashion through ending the separation from a real human connection with one another, and creating a culture that embraces a complete paradigm shift away from the reckless disposal of life on the very basic level, and towards a value for the human body and life here on Earth. Until then - we are putting band-aids on a wound that will never heal.
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