Blame Game - Virginia Tech

This new tragedy has hit me in several ways. Because I live in Japan at the moment I also have a very interesting outsider view of certain aspects of how this has begun to take shape. It has been watching how we respond to tragedy that has taught me a great deal in these very short two days.We expect the media to pick up a story of this magnitude instantaneously. With so many 24 hour news channels and every local news outlet constantly on the prowl for any kind of news; tragedy works like a ten-ton magnet on paper clips. In many ways this is positive. We can get very fast and quickly updated news on what is happening in our world. In this case knowing the exact magnitude of what occurred on the Virginia campus. That is where it ends…Within the span of minutes it seems that the media, quickly followed by loyal viewers, forgot that they were filming an honest tragedy that involved real lives. Certainly we have many sound bytes of emotional reactions and photos of the damage to remind us what happened, but everyone dropped the tragedy and need to help to the bloody sport of instant blame.While fun, the blame game does no good. The school has already begun taking much blame for its slow reaction to the original shooting at the dormitory building. It took two hours for the administration to release an email. To put this in perspective, it took Mesa State College (a much smaller school) nearly two days to issue statements regarding a break-in and sexual assault is a dorm. Getting both enough information and the proper clearance to release information in a proper format takes time. Could more have been done? The answer is always yes, but the reality is that nothing is as instant or as accurate as we would like. Luckily there is more to blame than the school.Within eight hours (Wired News) the effect of TV and games was mentioned. Does observing violence have a statistical effect on violent acts committed? There have been many studies, and most answers have been yes. However, most came with very qualified answers, low statistical significance, and the very real warning that this is not an “If A then B” problem. Observing violence (of any kind) has an effect. But there is no one to one answer or solution.I am also of the school of thought that education destroys any ability to blame the evil of media, TV, games, or books. Especially by the time you have all or most of a college education (in this case the shooter was a senior) you should have a pretty fast hold on fantasy and reality. You should also have a very clear view of right and wrong. In fact, this is the basis of determining during the Nuremberg Trials of WWII who would be tried for war crimes and eligible for execution. And if a person truly cannot distinguish between the worlds of right/wrong and fantasy/reality, perhaps it is time to focus on that proximate cause of the problem.Hopefully discussion in the media will turn back to how we can help the students effected by this tragedy. Hopefully we will be able to focus on what can be done better in the future. Maybe we can get some distance from the blame game.

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