In the wake of the Northern Illinois University shooting, there have been several more incidents involving violence and threats of violence.
Early Wednesday morning the University of North Carolina’s student body president was shot and killed, said an article in the The Daily Tar Heel. The shooting happened off campus and her car was believed to have been stolen. Police have no suspects at the moment.
Tuesday night a Auburn University an 18-year-old freshman was found on the side of an Alabama highway with a gunshot wound to the head. She died later that night at an Alabama hospital, said an article in the Auburn Plainsman. Shortly after finding the student’s body police responded to a vehicle fire near a residence hall on Auburn’s campus. The vehicle was registered to the student. Police said students are not in any danger.
Only days after the NIU shooting, a student at the University of Illinois-Chicago sent out at threatening e-mail. The 24-year-old student from Wheaton, Illinois said in the e-mail that she would carry out a repeat of the NIU shooting some where on the UIC campus, reported the Chicago Sun-Times. She was tracked down quickly and arrested though.
Wednesday night, a University of California-Davis dorm was evacuated after police received a call that a student had explosives said an article in the California Aggie. The 18-year-old freshman was charged with possession of chemicals to make explosives and possession of explosives on school grounds. The police believe there was no malicious intent on the student’s part.
Why do these things happen? Specifically why do they happen in this country? There isn’t one answer. People are quick to blame violence in movies, music and television but I think there’s more to it than that. I’m not saying those things aren’t factors but there are others. Certainly mental health issues, prevalence of firearms and racial and class tensions play into this problem. However, one factor that’s overlooked is common decency and respect of others.
From spending time with people of my parents generation and my grandparents generation, it seems that some people today don’t have same kind of decency that people used to have. This seems especially true among young males.
Men in high school and college are continually emasculated by gay-baiting and other taunts. Words like “gay,” “fag,” and “pussy” are thrown around continually, humiliating and isolating some men. Eventually they are pushed to the edge and act out to show they are a “real man.” There is an excellent documentary on this theory titled “Tough Guise.”
On the other hand, often people that are perceived as strange or different are continually ignored. They are treated as if they don’t exist or as if they’re not human, until they lash out violently to finally receive the attention that has been missing.
You don’t have to like everyone, but people are entitled to a certain level of respect and it’s my humble opinion that some common decency could go a long way.
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