On the 16th April 2007, Cho Seung Hui, a student of Virginia Tech University, went on a killing rampage in the school campus before turning the gun on himself, killing 32 people. While the rest of the world continues to recoil in shock and gape at the indelible images of this macabre incident displayed on television screens, I cannot help but wonder if this horrendous episode could have been prevented. After reading many related articles, I am under the impression that the shootings could have actually been stopped and I attribute this egregious failure to stop the carnage to three factors: The refusal the of the Americans to allow Cho to assimilate into their culture by leaving him out, the failure of the police and the school to detect Cho's condition and deal with it despite having received reports about his mental state, as well as America's slack gun control laws.
It was reported that Cho came to America together with his family when he was eight and throughout his schooling life there, he was often the victim of bullying by his American peers. He was also rejected by his schoolmates and all this made him withdraw into his own world. Far from being ensconced, he became abject and his aversion for the Americans grew each day. Gradually, the aversion transformed into acrimony, and soon he began formulating thoughts of reprisals against them, which eventually materialised. Thus it can be said that the America society contributed to the hatred in him that led to the bloodshed.
Cho had also been previously apprehended after being accused of stalking two ladies, yet not charges were pressed against him. His teachers and roommates reported on his violent tendencies and his aberrant behaviour, but once again, the police and the school did not know how to deal with it. It was such dithering by the police and the school that resulted in Cho not being confined in time. Had he been locked away in some mental institute or hospital and banned from going to school, this disaster would never had happened. Cho had displayed many signs of his conditions, most notably through the playscripts he wrote and the fantasies he formulated. The police and the school could have engaged him in counselling or sent him for treatments and therapies in hospitals and mental institutes, or even kept him away from the school and forbidded him from attending lessons. It would thus be impossible for Cho to commit the kilings, and lives would not be lost.
Lastly, slack gun laws in America allowed Cho to walk into the gun shop in his area to purchase the guns he used in the massacre. Since Cho had no criminal record, he was entitled to buy a gun every month. Such easy access to guns led to the shootings, because if stringent laws were imposed on the guns, Cho would not have the guns to commit the killing spree. America has the highest number of gun-related deaths but no one in the American government is willing to push for gun controls because it is unpopular among the people and might cost government officials their jobs if imposed. That is why after cases and cases of school killings, nothing has been done to rectify the problem.
If the above measures were taken earlier, this incident could have actually been prevented. Although there is no way we can bring back the lives that were lost in this massacre, we can learn from this incident and prevent similar cases from happening again. Thus, I urge for more action from the Americans, lest killing sprees in schools continue to be a a part of America's daily headlines.
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