Hokie stone
I can't get the Virginia Tech incident out of my mind. I had a high school friend who went there and then worked at the inn on campus after she graduated, and I visited her quite a few times several years ago. And the newscasters are right: it really is a gorgeous, friendly, quaint place. It's so hard to believe something like that happened there. I don't know, I think J would vigorously disagree with me about this, but I can't help wondering if our gun culture in America plays a part in these types of incidents. I've been around guys talking about guns, and there's this attitude that having a gun equals some sort of status. To people (mostly guys, from what I've seen) guns are cool, they're bad&*#, they're something to brag about. Yes, I think 95% of people are responsible with their guns, but there's something in our culture that seems a little off to me when it comes to weapons like that. Do I think the shooter at Virginia Tech would have found another way to do this if he didn't have a semiautomatic 9 mm? Yes. Do I think it would have been harder for him? I hate to say it, but yes. I guess I just wish everyone realized how dangerous guns are. To me, they are not cool at all. In fact, if somebody handed me a gun, I'd be all "And I'm supposed to do what with this?" before I shot my toe off. And that is exactly how I like it.
posted by Ann at 8:10 AM
6 Comments:
I've shot a gun (at a shooting range) and it actually made me respect guns a whole heck of a lot more. I got no power trip out of it, but I'm sure there are many people who do. And not to get all parenty, but I don't think all the gun related video games help. I think it really blurs the line between reality and fantasy for a lot of people.
I agree. Not that I've played those games or had kids who did, but it just seems like common sense to see that playing realistic shooting games would change a person's perspective on things. And I'd guess that the vast majority of people handle it just fine, but for people with mental instability, I'd much rather see them knitting for their hobby.
I agree with both and also feel that our culture has become very desensitized (sp?) to violence as a whole and the games do blur the line between reality and fantasy. Combine with any instability and it could be bad. Ann, this made me think of Columbine b/c it happened when were in grad school and I remember talking about the day it happened before our Warhol class with Dr. Collins....as a parent, it makes you think about just keeping your child at home forever! I know I can't, obviously, but it is scary out there!
I remember sitting in Sloan and talking about Columbine, too. And in an eerie coincidence, I was watching a show this past weekend about Columbine. I don't even know what schools could do to stop these things from happening. It's such a mess. You can't install metal detectors on every sidewalk and parking lot.
Although, I do wonder if colleges will start restricting access to classrooms now.
I am working at home this morning and I am watching the coverage. Everyone is so quick to criticize the security etc, but I don't know how you effectively lock down a large university.
You can't. That's a ridiculous suggestion. VT is huge. You can't call every student and staff member in 5 minutes, especially when you're not even sure what just happened. As if anybody could have known what that guy was going to do next.
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