| It is a sad week all over the nation this week when a | | | | withdraw from the mainstream American society. In |
| senior college student opened fire on fellow students | | | | my high school days, I knew a classmate who was |
| at a small town college. First, he opened fire in a high | | | | born with a harelip and had problems verbalizing |
| rise dormitory. Two hours later, he gunned down | | | | herself clearly and effectively. If you could hear her |
| several more students in a second floor classroom. | | | | talk, it DID sound like she had a speech problem. One |
| Seung Hui Cho, a South Korean, was determined to be | | | | found it hard to understand her. Academically, she was |
| responsible for the massacre that occurred at Virginia | | | | the smartest person among all of us yet she was |
| Tech (VT) on April 16, 2007. With pistols that he | | | | withdrawn because of her birth feature. Fortunately, |
| purchased several weeks ago, he turned the campus | | | | for me and my classmates, this person did not take |
| into a shooting gallery that took the lives of 32 VT | | | | out her frustrations with a semi-automatic. In fact, |
| students as well as his very own. | | | | when I got to know her better in chemistry class in |
| What went on in the mind of this young man? What | | | | college, she studied to become an electrical engineer |
| could possibly drive him to a mentally depressed state | | | | and is now working for one of the biggest companies |
| that ultimately lead to him to snap as he did? Is it | | | | in the state. |
| possible that he did not have a good home life? Was | | | | It is possible that Mr. Cho, being Asian in an all-white |
| he a victim of bullyism in school similar to Eric Harris | | | | school, felt the same way. He looked different. Many |
| and Dylan Klebold, the students to whom Cho refers | | | | of my Asian friends I have known over the years |
| as martyrs, from the Columbine incident? | | | | reported being prejudiced by their Caucasian |
| Is society too quick to condemn Mr. Cho for the | | | | counterparts while they were in grade school. They |
| shootings or is there something more that needs to be | | | | were the subject of ridicule because their hair was too |
| investigated? We could speculate that Mr. Cho had | | | | dark, or their parents spoke with funny accents, or |
| psychological problems stemming from his childhood. | | | | their lunch food was untradeable because it smelled |
| In fact, it was later reported after the shooting spree | | | | too funny. Little things like these can take its toll on a |
| that Seung Hui Cho was a victim of taunting by fellow | | | | person's mind. How we choose to deal with those |
| classmates while he was in school shortly after his | | | | years of torment is the subject of this week's Virginia |
| arrival in the U.S. in 1992. Due to his lack of command | | | | Tech rampage. |
| of the English language, classmates mocked him for | | | | Mr. Cho simply could not take it anymore. If I interpret |
| "having something in his mouth" while he talked. | | | | his video manifesto correctly, I believe that he was |
| Could it be surmised that years of these taunts drove | | | | filled with years of torment that lead to this week's |
| Cho into depression? Is it possible that these taunts | | | | mass killings. He did not have a lot of people who |
| were a form of verbal bullyism inflicted on him? Did he | | | | wanted to befriend him when he was 8 years old |
| try to fit in and was ultimately rejected because of | | | | upon his arrival in 1992. His manifesto showed he had |
| looking too "Oriental?" Was he rejected for his | | | | rage filled in his eyes. Years of age that built up from |
| supposed "speech impediment?" | | | | the kinds of verbal, psychological, and social abuse that |
| These are a small number of many unanswered | | | | he reluctantly received. He felt that the only way to |
| questions that could have lead Cho to explode beyond | | | | get revenge was with a firearm. In fact, vengeance |
| the words he described in his creative writing classes. | | | | was his motive against those "brats." |
| In fact, I believe that he is referring to members of the | | | | He did not have the expensive cognac nor did he |
| American mainstream society in his video manifesto. | | | | know nice women who would give him the time of |
| Specifically, the "you" is the all-American rich kids that | | | | day. Who would if he was stalking them? Perhaps he |
| he talks about. He envied their lifestyle. He envied their | | | | was jealous of the lifestyle of mainstream American |
| "gold necklaces" and their "trust funds" because he did | | | | society since he grew up in a poor country. His |
| not have them as he was growing up. | | | | parents were poor in South Korea and decided to |
| The fact that he is Asian, looked different, and spoke | | | | move to the U.S. in search of a better lifestyle. When |
| a different language than his peers may have | | | | he tried to achieve that lifestyle by first trying to "fit in," |
| alienated him from his fellow classmates. Being a | | | | he was rejected from the beginning 15 years ago. |
| foreigner in a new land and new school could have | | | | I believe that Mr. Cho had a right to lash out with |
| been psychologically intimidating for him. Not knowing | | | | WORDS, but not with BULLETS. Anybody who goes |
| what to say, how to act, or how to dress around | | | | to that extreme seriously must have failed to get |
| these people could have contributed to his depression. | | | | some professional help. A cry for help was seen in his |
| First of all, language must have placed a psychological | | | | previous writings that should have prompted university |
| barrier between him and his classmates. It is possible | | | | officials to bar him from attending classes pending the |
| that this wall was placed not only by Mr. Cho upon his | | | | outcome of a thorough psychological evaluation. It is |
| arrival to the U.S., but also by his classmates who felt | | | | also my belief that the school system failed to give him |
| that it was easier to make fun of him rather than | | | | enough treatment for his problems. No doubt there will |
| reach out to him and be his friend. | | | | be lawsuits stemming from this week's incident against |
| Secondly, his foreign looks may have caused him to | | | | the university. |