Please know that I did not experience college the way most do. I have a year under my belt at a community college and of course there was that year at beauty school...but that does not count. I say that to let you know that I honestly do NOT know what resources are available on campus and I am going to share a letter I wrote to my friend Cher who is a college professor:
"I had been trying to avoid the VT shooting incident until I could REALLY look at it. Yesterday I made a point of watching a broadcast that told about the victims and I had not realized how many professors had been killed and I instantly thought of {my friend Cher}.
It worries me that there were several people who feared this young man and no one listened to them. Fellow students saw in his writing that there was something wrong. He had a tutor that feared him so much so that she had a code word for her assistant to seek emergency assistance. There were records of him stalking not one, but two different women. Obviously no one was 'listening' to him either. What has to happen before people start taking active roles to prevent this type of tragedy? Those victims could have been my daughter, or her friends and the professors could have been {my friend Cher}.
This morning, I watched clips from the video that Mr. Cho made between his shootings and obviously this guy was hurting and feeling insignificant and was obviously mentally unstable. There are records of him having spent time in a mental health care facility. Isn't that on part of the background check when people apply for a gun license and make purchase of a gun?
College years are very transitional for most people. Some people do not have the maturity, sense of responsibility, independence, ability to adapt, social skills, level of mental health, etc. required to be in that sort of environment. There needs to be a way for someone or a group to be prepared to figure out who these people are. There should be a person or group that staff and students could go to who would be willing to REALLY look into the warning signs exhibited and offer support to these people before they take things into their own hands and find a way to lash out at others and/or themselves.
The Cho family must be devastated. I know the victims families are, but image if you were the parents or family of Mr. Cho...guilt on top of grief. Layers and layers of pain. How sad for all of them. What a tragic loss for all of us. What potential leaders, doctors, entertainers, authors, teachers, mothers, fathers, and friends did we lose in those that were lost that day? So many people with so much potential to contribute to society, now gone.
Thursday, April 19, 2007
Thursday, April 19, 2007
Regarding the Virginia Tech shootings
Please know that I did not experience college the way most do. I have a year under my belt at a community college and of course there was that year at beauty school...but that does not count. I say that to let you know that I honestly do NOT know what resources are available on campus and I am going to share a letter I wrote to my friend Cher who is a college professor:
"I had been trying to avoid the VT shooting incident until I could REALLY look at it. Yesterday I made a point of watching a broadcast that told about the victims and I had not realized how many professors had been killed and I instantly thought of {my friend Cher}.
It worries me that there were several people who feared this young man and no one listened to them. Fellow students saw in his writing that there was something wrong. He had a tutor that feared him so much so that she had a code word for her assistant to seek emergency assistance. There were records of him stalking not one, but two different women. Obviously no one was 'listening' to him either. What has to happen before people start taking active roles to prevent this type of tragedy? Those victims could have been my daughter, or her friends and the professors could have been {my friend Cher}.
This morning, I watched clips from the video that Mr. Cho made between his shootings and obviously this guy was hurting and feeling insignificant and was obviously mentally unstable. There are records of him having spent time in a mental health care facility. Isn't that on part of the background check when people apply for a gun license and make purchase of a gun?
College years are very transitional for most people. Some people do not have the maturity, sense of responsibility, independence, ability to adapt, social skills, level of mental health, etc. required to be in that sort of environment. There needs to be a way for someone or a group to be prepared to figure out who these people are. There should be a person or group that staff and students could go to who would be willing to REALLY look into the warning signs exhibited and offer support to these people before they take things into their own hands and find a way to lash out at others and/or themselves.
The Cho family must be devastated. I know the victims families are, but image if you were the parents or family of Mr. Cho...guilt on top of grief. Layers and layers of pain. How sad for all of them. What a tragic loss for all of us. What potential leaders, doctors, entertainers, authors, teachers, mothers, fathers, and friends did we lose in those that were lost that day? So many people with so much potential to contribute to society, now gone.
"I had been trying to avoid the VT shooting incident until I could REALLY look at it. Yesterday I made a point of watching a broadcast that told about the victims and I had not realized how many professors had been killed and I instantly thought of {my friend Cher}.
It worries me that there were several people who feared this young man and no one listened to them. Fellow students saw in his writing that there was something wrong. He had a tutor that feared him so much so that she had a code word for her assistant to seek emergency assistance. There were records of him stalking not one, but two different women. Obviously no one was 'listening' to him either. What has to happen before people start taking active roles to prevent this type of tragedy? Those victims could have been my daughter, or her friends and the professors could have been {my friend Cher}.
This morning, I watched clips from the video that Mr. Cho made between his shootings and obviously this guy was hurting and feeling insignificant and was obviously mentally unstable. There are records of him having spent time in a mental health care facility. Isn't that on part of the background check when people apply for a gun license and make purchase of a gun?
College years are very transitional for most people. Some people do not have the maturity, sense of responsibility, independence, ability to adapt, social skills, level of mental health, etc. required to be in that sort of environment. There needs to be a way for someone or a group to be prepared to figure out who these people are. There should be a person or group that staff and students could go to who would be willing to REALLY look into the warning signs exhibited and offer support to these people before they take things into their own hands and find a way to lash out at others and/or themselves.
The Cho family must be devastated. I know the victims families are, but image if you were the parents or family of Mr. Cho...guilt on top of grief. Layers and layers of pain. How sad for all of them. What a tragic loss for all of us. What potential leaders, doctors, entertainers, authors, teachers, mothers, fathers, and friends did we lose in those that were lost that day? So many people with so much potential to contribute to society, now gone.
