Virginia Tech Massacre free essay sample

Samantha Mackowiak Dr. Kozlowski English 2 D 14 May 2009 A Destructible Outcome to a Preventable Cause: The Reasons of the Virginia Tech Massacre Volcanoes, hurricanes, and tornadoes are unpreventable disasters in nature. Society goes along day by day knowing that they can occur and there is nothing we can do about it because it is not our place to control. Shootings, however, are preventable. Our law enforcement holds the power to grant and take away weapons, but still so many people are able to acquire these items and use them for their own ill will. Due to the previous lack in gun control in the US, Cho Seuing-Hui was able to massacre 33 people at Virginia Tech University on April 17, 2007, despite the fact he had clearly been an unstable candidate for possession of a weapon, and only after this horrible atrocity was committed were the gun laws finally made stricter and more conservative and were campus security and safety officially readjusted to keep closer watch on mentally ill students. We will write a custom essay sample on Virginia Tech Massacre or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Many people have believed that Cho Seung-Hui had been unstable from the time he was born. He dismissed himself as an attribute to society. Seung-Hui’s childhood had been one of scorn and ridicule and he had been trapped in a generational warp. His peers did not accept him for his Korean-American ethnicity. Seung-Hui’s parents sent him to Christian youth camps that only darkened him. While he was there, he was not saved from the harassment from others or the mocking that was brought upon him. It is believed that somewhere, somehow there was a great deal of emotional stress plunged upon Seung-Hui that caused his feelings of alienation to increase drastically (Making of a Massacre p. 4-7). Professors and researchers believed Seung-Hui’s mental disposition may have been caused by overwhelming pressure from academics. Seung-Hui’s parents had immigrated from Korea in hopes of him being able to pursue the American dream through the increasing education opportunities. In addition to the already high standards his parents had for him, the Seung-Hui’s only wanted Cho to attend an Ivy League school (Making of a Massacre p. 9-10). The increasing stress on Cho eventually led to him having breakdowns during school. He would sit in the back of classrooms and shut away from everyone. His parents attempted to get him help, but he was already too far gone. As Seung-Hui grew older, he was accepted into Virginia Tech University. Virginia Tech was not the Ivy League school his parents had dreamed of, but they were still proud of his accomplishments of being accepted. People say around this time, Seung-Hui was finally being accepted. He was often invited to parties and outings with people in his classes or from around his dorm. At the outings however, Seung-Hui would remain expressionless and not talk about personal experiences. When he did speak, they were ridiculing, twisted, and perverted remarks. Pretty soon, he began sending harassing text messages to girls which led to him to be reported as a stalker (Shute, Nancy p. 1). His fellow college mates were highly scared of him. The signs that Seung-Hui may have had psychological problems were becoming more and more evident. In 2005, he was hospitalized as a suicide risk and released when he convinced a judge he wouldn’t kill himself. (Shute, Nancy p. 2) He wrote poems pertaining to death and took pictures of his fellow classmates from under his desk. His antics caused students to stop attending classes to be able to avoid him. When asked to clean the content of his poetry or drop the class himself, he responded to his teacher, â€Å"You can’t make me,† (Making of a Massacre p. 14-19). Lucinda Roy was the teacher of this creative writing course at Virginia Tech. She had eye witnessed the fear Seung-Hui consistently instilled in his classmates and even herself. On numerous occasions she attempted talking with him. She wanted to discuss opportunities for therapy or group counseling. After a few months, Roy gave up on trying to help Seung-Hui. She labeled him as obnoxious and rude. Furthermore, she notified the Division of Student Affairs, the Cook Counseling Center, the Schiffert Health Center, the Virginia Tech Police, and the College of Liberal Arts and Human Science of Seung-Hui’s strange behavior (Making of a Massacre p. 22-25). The debate over guns and gun control violence has been disputed for ages and as a result of the Virginia Tech shootings where 33 students were murdered, gun control laws began to change sporadically. When shootings like Virginia Tech happen, where the murderer is a mentally unstable person who has access to the weapon, the debate usually reignites. However, the cases are usually not strong enough to actually have a significant change on the gun control laws. There was an exception after the shootings however because Cho Seung-Hui had been ordered to undergo outpatient therapy a few days earlier, clearly making him an unstable candidate to own any sort of weapons. Because of the state of Virginia never sending this information to the national background check system, Cho was allowed to buy the weapons with ease. Within weeks of the shootings, Rep. John Dingell and Rep. Carolyn McCarthy introduced a bill. The NRA supported their efforts. However, the vice president of the National Rifle Associatian (NRA), Wayne LaPierre, thought the law focused enough on gun control stating, â€Å"We’ve always been vigilant about protecting the rights of law-abiding citizens to purchase guns, and equally vigilant about keeping guns out of the hands of criminals and the mentally defective and people who shouldn’t have them† (Second Amendment pp. 6). Others also had great distaste for the bill. The bill stated that the rights of gun-purchasing for veterans who had been diagnosed with mental problems could be used as a way of obtaining disability benefits. The NRA has said that around 80,000 veterans have been placed in the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) background check system since it has been created. If veterans want their gun privileges back, all they have to do is show that they are not a threat to society and have been treated for their illnesses and have since recovered (Second Amendment pp. 7). Dingell and McCarthy’s law also asked that all funds from the NICS would not be used for purposes other than gun control. There were many protesters to the bill being passed, but in the US House of Representatives there was only one protester, Rep. Ron Paul from Texas, who believed the gun control law would be against the second amendment. The bill was officially passed in December of 2007 being signed off into law on January 8, 2008 (Second Amendment pp. 10). The effect that the Virginia Tech shooting had on the United States was overwhelming. The nation was in fear for terrorists and people just like Cho Seung-Hui. Many students refused to go to their classes, and many students families took them out of schools for weeks to avoid a tragedy like that of Virginia Tech. The emotional disrupt it caused families and friends alike was heart wrenching. College campuses were supposed to be a safe place to send your children, the starting of their own lives separate from their parent, and at Virginia Tech in that month of April, college campuses became a place of fear. Some people still grieve the losses of Virginia Tech today and each year Virginia Tech still holds a memorial service to those who were murdered by the lack of gun control in our society today. Gun control was not the only issue that administrators and government began to correct. University administrators and campus mental health counselors across the country began to re- examine the issues of treatment for mentally ill students (Shute, Nancy p. 3). While many students are going off to college with illnesses such as schizophrenia, administrators cannot say anything to anyone unless they find the student to be a clear threat. That does not help many people’s consciences and fears. Many colleges fear they are doing too little to help prevent major disasters from happening. Edward Shapiro, a psychiatrist from Massachusetts stated that, â€Å"The legal system and the medical system conspire to leave these kids more alone than they should be†¦If the kid isn’t failing courses, if they’re not hassling people, and they’re doing their work, there’s not much the colleges can do† (Shute, Nancy p. 5). This rationalization leaves many counselors in the dark as to what means of caution they can take with students. However, many schools now try harder to identify students who seem depressed with the intent of luring them in for treatment and rehabilitation. When these actions fail, campuses revert to mandatory medical withdrawal even though that it not the solution and can lead to lawsuits (Shute, Nancy p. 7). The only solution that is felt acceptable by any is encouragement for the medically ill student to take a semi-vacation and –as many colleges hope for- keeping the student at home and sending them to nearby colleges. Although some of the effects of the Virginia Tech Massacre are still in the process of being passed and ratified, the good things that will come after they are accepted will be exuberant.