AOL has allegedly secured some student plays written by the shooter, via an AOL employee who went to Virginia Tech and says he attended classes with Cho Seung-Hui.
I say 'alleged' because, without meaning to question the honesty of the source, the plays set off some alarms in my head.
This guy is a senior majoring in English at a major university and he writes stuff like this? I've encountered many (too many) educated, intelligent people who write like cr**, but they weren't English majors.
Then there's the stated reaction to the guy from the classmate. (emphasis added)
The plays had really twisted, macabre violence that used weapons I wouldn't have even thought of. Before Cho got to class that day, we students were talking to each other with serious worry about whether he could be a school shooter. I was even thinking of scenarios of what I would do in case he did come in with a gun, I was that freaked out about him. When the students gave reviews of his play in class, we were very careful with our words in case he decided to snap. Even the professor didn't pressure him to give closing comments.
If the plays are genuine, here are my thoughts:
1. Cho was an awful writer, with a juvenile thought process and a 7th graders love of profanity (no sarcasm intended)
2. Therefore Cho could not have been more than a marginal to sub-par English student at an American university.
3. It is even likely that given the statement above, he was allowed to pass classes just so the faculty could avoid confrontation. If that is the case, he should not have remained on campus as a student.
4. If the reaction in the statement is true, and not a hindsight interpretation of events, than: a) the professor had an ethical obligation to report the content of the writing b) failing that, the students themselves had a vested self-interest in reporting a frightening and disturbed individual to the powers-that-be.
Keep in mind no one's at fault except Cho himself; he's the one who pulled the trigger.
Again, if true, the existence of the writing is eerily similar to the Klebold assignment a month prior to his participation in the Columbine massacre. To paraphrase one commenter on the original link "how many times do we have to see this stuff before we learn to react?"
UPDATE: info continues to pour in and make items obsolete, so I think this will finish off my blogging on the subject.
"There was some concern about him," Rude said. "Sometimes, in creative writing, people reveal things and you never know if it's creative or if they're describing things, if they're imagining things or just how real it might be. But we're all alert to not ignore things like this."
She said Cho was referred to the counseling service, but she said she did not know when, or what the outcome was. Rude refused to release any of his writings or his grades, citing privacy laws.
So someone DID notice, it appears the plays ARE real, and he was referred for counseling.
5 comments:
I think it is time to quit giving the Virginia Tech Killer anymore noteriety.He wants us to remember him and we are doing it. I say don't print or repeat his name, don't print his picture.I hope they bury him in an unmarked grave and erase his records and anything that will bear witness to his existence.
They ought to have a law that provides for the complete erasure of the name ,pictures and other identity records of anyone who takes the lives of more than 1 person . Then only refer to that individual as a nameless entity that caused such a horrific event
Leon Hunter
Landfall, Minnesota
It is extreamly hard to live with the suicide of a loved one. Harder yet when your loved one has taken someone elses life as well. It is something that is impossiable to live with unless you can first realize that suicide is a mental illness. My heart goes out to his parents as they have to live with the choice thier adult son made. How easy it is to somehow blame them. This young mans comments seem to point more to other peers treating him poorly. We had plenty of warning? Does this refer to Columbine? Do each of us teach our children that if we do not have anything nice to say, don't say anything as all? I have seen name calling and put downs on blogs all over. I have to wonder who they are to judge when they sound like little kids themselves. I did have to wonder myself if there was all this concern then why wasn't more done? If anyone had truly cared about this young man they may have put more time and effort into helping him. I saw a parent question if this young man's parents should be held responsable? Did anyone even contact them with the concerns they had? Did anyone ask for there help while he was alive? How can we hold them responsable for something they may not have known? Nine out of ten children are bullied each day in our schools. It sounds to me like we still have not learned anything.
You are so right! I am so sick of the coverage that this animal is getting. His name should be erased. He would love this, this is exactly what he wanted! So, why are we giving this murderer and coward exactly what he wanted.
In response to the last reader's comments...this goes far beyond the schoolyard bullying to which you refer. This man was mentally ill and yes as both a parent and wife of a psychologist I believe that his problem should have been noted and attended to by those around him, whether that was his parents or the university community itself...but I don't wirte this to "blame" them or look to them to seek amends. That in itself would be the same kind of thinking held by the narcissitic shooter himself ..always seeking to blame others. We can look to blame or we can look to learn and improve ourselves. But most importantly we should send our love and healing to those who are suffering today so desparately from the loss of a loved one.
What comcerns me at this point is the COPYCATS. How many other criminaly insane, or just plain stupid punks are now going to seek this attention? This kid has now Matyered (spelled wrong) himself. WE are all in shock over this but there are many , too many, in this country who are saying "dude, that was soo cool". Hopefully, out of all of this everyone will be a little more aware of "who" their neighbors are. Even then ,many times, no one believes that their neighbor could of been a criminal. This is our safety zone, we rationalize all we see to keep it our safe zone. I found that when confronted with a new situation or a new person usually my first impression is the correct one. My mind hasn't had the chance to rationalize or make excuses for anything. If you listen to people who were in contact with this kid at Virginia Tech this is what they were doing. They rationalized his behaviour. "we thought he was just quiet" , but as soon as something happened,reality set in "I bet it was him". Do I think that the authorities at VT messed up ? I really don't know. I do know that many folks that have been in counceling become very good at knowing what and what not say, and how to act in front of the councelors.
But when teachers have to invent a CODE WORD to use because they fear a perticular person is going to be violent, as they did with this kid, then something is not right. These are teachers, not psycho ward nurses. I think that what happened is going to make everyone more aware for a while. But as humans we will all fall back into the trap of rationalizing again.
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