Terror at Dawson College
Today a horrific event occurred. A man with some kind of defect decided to walk down to Dawson College and open fire on students and pedestrians. Twenty people were shot, in addition to the suspect who was shot and killed by police officers. So far, only one of the victims has been reported to have died of their injuries although many are in critical condition - one victim was shot in the head, and another in the abdomen.This isn't the first time that something so tragic has occurred in Montreal, one only needs to mention "Ecole Polytechnique" to bring back memories of the 14 women who were shot by gunman Marc Lepine.
Back then people were outraged and there were calls for gun control and increased security. Again people are asking themselves how can we prevent something like this from happening again?
My fear is that people will allow themselves to react in a knee-jerk sort of way, bringing about a poorly thought through "think of the children" response. What we do not need is a call to lock doors, install vast security camera banks, post armed guards, and start putting students and visitors through security checkpoints. And please don't even bother mentioning the gun registry. Do you think that helped prevent this? Do you think strengthening it would prevent this?
Honestly we need to realize that sometimes random acts of violence occur, and the best thing we can do is to try to educate and care for our citizens so that they do not grow up with an inclination to commit violent acts. Society needs to become more open, not more closed. If we reject the stranger syndrome that dense population centers foster and if we stay connected with our neighbours, we can recognize people who need special attention.
Let's not let people fall down or leave wounds in society to fester, but let's also think rationally and realize this tragedy for what it is.
If there materializes a concerted effort to attack students in our schools then I will change my opinion. Until then, I think that people need to understand that this is an isolated incident and resist the urge to panic and cry for increased security.
Tags: Dawson College
posted by Blight @ 6:47 PM
13 Comments:
I nearly dropped my glass of milk when I saw the news this morning...
How do you prevent people from going sociopathic? I think, as long as there are large cities and big societies, this type of thing will happen, inevitably.
I think you are right in that you can't predict random acts of violence. Very so-called rational people have done some very un-rational acts in history. It is a tragedy for sure, but the gun registry is not the answer.
My thoughts go out to the families of the victims.
Cibbuano, is that really true? Consider Japan for example. These kind of violent outbursts don't happen there. Although, in Japan rates of suicide are much higher and I think the issues might be related.
I'm trying to imagine the thought process that goes through the head of someone who does something like this. Does this behaviour come about because society tells me to blame everyone else for my problems? Or is it because society expects too much of me, and my mistakes (or non-conformity) have led me to be shunned and outcast by society?
Either way, I think it has to do with the trend of simplifying issues into simple yes/no, black/white answers. We see this all the time. Islam = bad. Security = good. Being popular = good. Not having friends = BAD. This mentality makes it so easy for people to tell themselves that they're completely worthless and/or that someone else is completely to blame. This mentality leads to extremism and leaves no room for rational thought.
Yeah, that's fucked, random acts of violence are always gross.
The thing is, the media never gives you the whole story, so who knows what the deal is. Maybe he had a serious mental issue, maybe he was victim of some societal bias, maybe he had something shitty happen to him and he just snapped. Maybe he was doing too many drugs.
Anyways, it's pretty tough to catch all the scenarios.
"These kind of violent outbursts don't happen there." --Actually, they do. The last time I was in Japan there was a big newsfeast on this guy who snuck onto a playground and started stabbing a bunch of kids. An older story was referenced, in which a kid sawed the head off a rival schoolmate and stuck it on the fence to the school. Then, of course, was the massive sarin gassing of the subway system that killed... checking... seven people.
Like Blight said that one time: Shit happens. And it happens everywhere.
Ben, point taken. Although the sarin attack could be construed as politically motivated. That attack wasn't carried out by one or two loners.
Maybe there is no difference. Shit just happens. It seems really insensitive but it's better not to make too much hay of it.
Violence is a result of a multitude of factors, some of which are essentially impossible to control. It's like predicting the future. Who can do that?
One thing I really hate is that the killer killed himself after shooting a bunch of people. Why not just shoot yourself first and save everyone else the misery?
Lobo: THIS IS PURE GOLD!!!
"One thing I really hate is that the killer killed himself after shooting a bunch of people. Why not just shoot yourself first and save everyone else the misery?"
Part of this young man's suffering seems to have been driven by a tremendous sense of personal injustice that he blamed on society at large -- thus the need to take others lives before ending his own.
He likely planned this murder suicide as a way of getting back at society and raising his 'voice' to a level that he would be heard.
It's so sad that people find themselves in situations where they feel so desperate that they take these actions.
Unfortunately the media, and perhaps society in general, try to rationalize these types of events by over simplification... he was associated with Goths, or he was just an evil person. It's just easier, and perhaps less painful for us, if we can quickly fit his actions into some neat little box.
Events like this should drive us to looking further at root causes. What can we as a society do differently to prevent others from falling into similar circumstances... that's where we should focus our efforts.
Anon, I bet my wife £5 that the media would be blaming video games (my medium of choice, and Blight's as well I wager), for this tragedy, within a week.
It was the easiest £5 I ever made. Of course, all our money is shared, so it didn't really matter.
http://calsun.canoe.ca/News/Columnists/Corbella_Licia/2006/09/17/1852881.html
http://www.gamepolitics.com/
has some counterpoints
The "root causes" I suspect are something that people just don't want to deal with. Best to slap it on something simple and salient, and we can all go on our merry way.
I applogise for my cynicism, but this event has affected me deeply, and I am angered to see the media jump upon "obvious answers" to what was no doubt a deep, complex set of problems.
dalban, you used Japan as an example of places where violent outbursts don't happen? Holy shit, I think they've got all kinds of sociopathic behaviour... it's just that news from japan doesn't filter into our media as much.
Also, I think their frustrations don't always translate into violence, but into depravity, instead...
Cibbuano, do you have any facts or are you just talking shit? How does 'sociopathic' behaviour manifest itself? What is your definition of 'depravity'? If depravity is not violent then does it matter whether someone is depraved? Or are you just intolerant?
It just so happens that I frequently read news from Japan. The crimes that make national headlines there include such travesties as when some guy is thought to be making a habit out of coping feels on busy trains.
If sociopathy or depravity include things like homicide and violent crime then either it's not getting reported in the news in Japan or you're thinking of a different Japan.
See for yourself:
International gun stats
dalban, for the most part, I'm talking shit. I've never been to Japan, so I can't say anything first hand.
Gun stats don't really measure the level of crime in a country, I think, because they depend on the availability of guns.
I still think violent outbursts happen in Japan: Washington Post story from 2002
"Incidents of violence on school grounds have increased fivefold in Japan over the past decade to 29,300 in 2002, leading the national Mainichi newspaper to warn of Japanese schoolyards descending "into battlefields.""
Is this a different Japan?
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