When the country witnesses a gruesome event like the one at Virginia Tech, we go into collective mourning.
We also indulge ourselves by trying to make sense of the massacre.
We then blame society. Video games. Movies. Guns.
Some blame the media for having the impudence to cover the killer.
We ask: What can be done? We demand action. There must be a solution, right?
Then we overreact.
During a class discussion regarding the massacre at Virginia Tech, a University of Colorado student claimed that he could understand why someone would murder 32 people.
So Max Karson was arrested for thinking idiotic thoughts aloud during a class discussion. If that’s a crime now, expect our prisons to be teeming with comparative literature majors.
At the University of Northern Colorado, the school has set up a “Virginia Tech Tragedy” Web page that offers an interesting array of information.
On the Web sidebar, UNC features useful links – “Emergency Response Plan,” “Campus Emergency Phone Map” and “Counseling Center” – but the second link for students to visit is the “Individuals Banned From Campus” page.
UNC is free to conduct its own security. But by plastering the faces of personae non gratae without proper context, UNC is implying, even with a disclaimer, that the featured individuals are a bunch of potential killers.
Are any UNC students made safer by a most-wanted list that is connected to the Virginia Tech massacre?
Is anyone made safer when a 17-year-old boy at Ponderosa High School in Parker is arrested for causing an “explosion” that led to the evacuation of his school? Authorities say the teen was carrying chemicals in his backpack. The coverage was dramatic and extensive.
Explosions and chemicals are scary.
Well, now, it turns out the explosion was just a loud noise. The explosives were household cleaning products. A soda bottle, we’re told, was also involved in the crime.
“If you shake up a pop, it becomes an explosive device,” the boy’s attorney said.
So true.
Though we don’t know all the facts in this case, it appears this teen is facing two life-ruining felonies – possession or use of explosives and unlawful possession of a weapon on school grounds – not only for his actions, but for the twisted actions of Virginia Tech killer Seung-Hui Cho.
One could argue that a 17-year-old student should be expected to have more sense.
How about a 13-year-old boy?
At Falcon Creek Middle School in Aurora, a teen was arrested for making preposterous and immature threats when another kid cut him off in line at lunchtime.
Thirteen-year-olds are wont to say incredibly silly things. Hopefully, this kid is reprimanded by teachers and principals, berated by his parents, sent off to a shrink who will unlock the mystery of why teenagers … you know, do the things they do.
But arrested?
Will the Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office be sending detectives to investigate every schoolyard threat and pop explosion from now on? Or is this just a temporary reaction to make us all feel a little safer?
And then what? Surely we don’t plan on keeping these troublemakers in prison and away from the general population forever. Or will we be setting up special schools for potential killers?
The Columbine and Virginia Tech massacres should be on our minds. However, excessively reacting to every minor threat or objectionable remark does nothing to stop the next tragedy.
Schools are one of the safest places for our kids to be. Homicides in schools account for only a tiny percentage of the overall number of juvenile murders.
Fact is, our kids are safer than we were. So creating an atmosphere of fear won’t help the victims – or our children.
David Harsanyi’s column appears Monday and Thursday. He can be reached at 303-954-1255 or dharsanyi@denverpost.com.
