Law Vibe

From Shelley’s Case:

First it was Columbine High. Then there is the shooting at Dawson College in Quebec. Now there is the Virginia Tech shooting. All this makes me wonder — why is there a rise in school violence?

When I first heard about Columbine shooting, my theory was that peer pressure in high school pushed these kids over the edge. As more evidence came into light, I came to realize that there is more to the story than peer pressure.

I suppose that shooting in general is not a rational action. A reasonable person would not transfer his or her angst and turn it into deadly violence against innocents. What I wonder is what triggers these shootings at higher education settings?

School is supposed to satisfy (or to perpetuate) our thirst of knowledge. It is not supposed to make someone stressed to the point of killing someone. I find that even though there are some people who make learning difficult at times, higher education environment has been less about peer pressure and more about positive learning. After all, you “choose” to go to college. You are there by choice and you can drop out. There are professional counselors who are there to help you deal with certain personal problems. You have options such as taking a leave of absence.

So why the violence? It is probably a circular question, and most likely a question that has no rational answer. Perhaps certain people are just ticking time bombs, ready to blow up at any period of their life, and there is no way to stop them. If they don’t explode now they will blow up later in life (e.g. workplace violence).

How to stop it? Is it stricter gun control? More protective measures in campus? But then we’d be inconvenience even further (not to mention protective measures are often costly to execute).

I suppose there is no easy solution and certainly no easy answer.