An anniversary to reflect on our society

Corey Hunt

Although it passed by relatively unnoticed, this April marked the anniversaries of two significant events that changed the way many students, teachers, and their families see the world. These, of course, are the shootings that took place at Virginia Tech in 2007 and Columbine High School in 1999…the worst school shootings in American history. While these issues draw up many debates, such as gun rights and mental illness, the media and those of us who are concerned about these things often miss the most important problem of all: friendship. Banning handguns and sending depressed students to counselors can only have so much effect, and the former is often futile because those who are determined to harm others will find ways around such obstacles, as an incident in Germany, a country with extremely tight gun laws, showed us last year.

When I was in middle school, the first anniversary of the Columbine shootings neared and my school had several bomb threats, resulting in dismissals from school. The actually day of the anniversary was declared to be “no backpack day”, which I can imagine must have been very frightening for my parents and all the others in town. What I remember most about that day and the weeks leading up to it is not the threats or the extreme precautions that were taken…instead, I think of a speech that my school principle gave. It was a speech with a message that every school student, from primary school to college, should have heard. He said that the best way to create a safe environment is to make sure that everyone at school is happy…that everyone has a friend and feels wanted. Unfortunately, through our years in school, we never take the time to think about this. Most students just want to come out on top – they want to be the coolest – and unfortunately, they usually obtain their places at the expense of others. Schools, particularly high schools, have a “caste” system, in a way…except something as basic as wanting to look good is the driving force behind it, not religion.

No one can be certain if the perpetrators behind the attacks at Columbine and Virginia – Eric Harris, Dylan Klebold, and Cho Seung-Hui – could have been stopped if their lives had not been made so miserable during their high school years. Maybe they were just crazy – or evil, and would have taken the lives of dozens of fellow students regardless. However, I’m sure most of you who are reading this have heard the stories of students who commit suicide because of their failure to find happiness or a place to fit in. Some of them are harassed every time they walk in the doors, while others are victims of “cyber-bullying”, an online form of harassment that has garnered a lot of public attention in recent years. Some of these cases, like the death of Phoebe Prince, a 15-year old girl who committed suicide after months of harassment, have forced states to adopt tougher laws regarding bullying. While this is good, anti-bullying laws, like gun restrictions, can only go so far. The best way to prevent school violence – in all its forms – is to try and be friendly with everyone. Like my old principal said, we should all try and make a friend or two every day…its not impossible to make everyone happy and its not too much to ask to respect everyone.

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