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My tech-savvy high school junior is considering Va. Tech for college, so this really hit home to me. But already I'm disgusted at the television media's response. I turned on the tube for a few minutes and got the usual crap that Jon Stewart mocks them for: scary music, anchors trying to look earnest while hiding their glee at such a "great" story to cover, and the fear-mongering graphics like : IS ANY STUDENT SAFE? and WHAT'S TO PREVENT THIS FROM HAPPENING ANYWHERE? (from MSNBC) and "This will certainly put all colleges on notice!" (from CNN)
To be clear, I have cried on and off about this since I heard, mainly b/c I keep imagining the parents who are getting those awful phone calls--and putting myself in their place. I'm actually glad at the stupidity of cable, so I can be outraged rather than sad. But what I'm worried about is the overreaction that will inevitably occur like it has in elementary, middle, and high schools since Columbine (locked doors, closed main offices, security officers).
The truth is, we CAN'T prevent this sort of thing, at least not with a bandaid security approach. I'm not saying there isn't some threshold of security that works on some level, but really the main reason this won't happen much in the future isn't b/c of whatever million-dollar security systems are put in place; it'll be b/c there aren't that many people wanting to shoot up schools. It's an awful, complicated blend (I think) of circumstances that gets someone to this point, and there just aren't that many times those stars will align. I hope we all keep our heads about us.
