Monday's Virginia Tech tragedy will be one that we all recall for quite some time. Many of us here at Ball State University know somebody who goes to Virginia Tech. All of us can recognize the senseless devastation brought on by one man. We can pray for those who were injured and mourn for those who were killed.
What will be our next move as a society, coming off of this massacre? What will people do differently now, having Monday in hindsight? I can't tell you what is going to happen, but I can assure you these next few months will be full of reflection and reaction.
There will, of course, be the reactions that arise whenever there is a major shooting death, especially when young people are involved. People will examine how easy it is to get a firearm and ammunition. I'm confident that those in Congress will kick around some anti-gun legislation with nothing major being accomplished.
Violence in popular culture is always just below the surface in the news, waiting for some tragedy to bring it back out into the open. People will be asking if exposure to violent video games, violent movies and violent television truly contributes to acts of destruction such as those on Monday.
People will look at how we can possibly reach out to those who are isolated in our society. How do we tell those who feel alone that there are people out there to whom they can vent their frustrations? Perhaps this could have been prevented if only the perpetrator had had a chance to talk with somebody. Obviously, we will never know, but we still need to think about what might have saved those innocent lives.
All of these areas are going to be addressed by those looking for answers and reason.
I hope there is some good to come out of this. Campus security, by all indications of what happened, is not where it needs to be on America's college campuses. Under the heading of campus security, of course, I am not only referring to the campus police officers. Security goes much further. It means safety in the residence halls on campus. It means knowing your surroundings and protecting your home and your well-being. This is something that involves each and every one of us. We need to do more than simply rely on others to keep us safe.
College administrations also need to take a look at what constitutes an emergency. Had the campus of Virginia Tech gone into a complete lock down after the first two murders, 30 people might still have been alive today. That is a terrible burden for those who decided not to shut down the school, but it is something that must be looked at.
Of course, hindsight is always 20/20. We can look back on what happened as much as we want, but nothing is going to change the past. We can look at how it happened, but no amount of inquiries and investigations will bring those innocent victims back.
What we can do now is mourn with Virginia Tech. We can demonstrate our solidarity for those who suffered senselessly and try to comfort those left behind. It's doubtful that any amount of preparation can totally prevent tragedies such as this, but it is too important to simply leave up to chance.
Write to Alex at apcarroll@bsu.edu
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