How Can We Stop the Madness?

For me, this was truly the most difficult blog we have been assigned. The death of an innocent person is beyond reason. We would like to think of the college campus as being a sort of "safe haven," a place where young minds are challenged to add to the knowledge of our world. Unfortunately, we know this is not true. The recent shooting on the University of Alabama - Huntsville seemed to put on exclamation point on this fact.

As I was researching the occurrence of school shootings, I was amazed at the numbers. During my search, I came upon a listing of school shootings throughout the world. The file includes incidents at both high school and college campuses. If you care to look, the list is located at:
http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0777958.html

I tried to focus my research on prevention, and found more information than I would have imagined. From the Department of Justice to private organizations, everyone has suggestions on how to prevent such a tragedy. The one I found most interesting was written by Brett A. Sokolow, J.D. Dr. Sokolow is the President and founder of the National Center for Higher Education Risk Management (http://www.ncherm.org/) . Here is a summary of what he had to say.

After each campus shooting incident, we seem to come up with another idea of how to prevent these tragedies. After the Virginia Tech incident, everyone began to resort to "gadgets" as a method of prevention. This probably didn't bother the text message industry, as they made huge financial gains with their technology. The security camera suppliers were even more appreciative.

One of the proposals Dr. Sokolow spoke about was the idea of locking the classroom doors. As he pointed out, although financial feasible, this would not be very effective. The shooter could be a student in the classroom, or could just walk in behind another student who belongs in the classroom. Even if it was possible to “lockout” the shooter, he or she would simply choose a more open venue, such as a student union or another open area.

The idea of security cameras has also been discussed on many college campuses, but his would only serve to provide the evening news with live footage of the tragedy. It may assist with apprehension of the offender, but would do little for the victim. Rather that using gizmos and gadgets, Dr. Sokolow and the National Center for Higher Education Risk Management advocate behavioral intervention as the best practice approach to preventing campus shooting incidents.

The study of aggression generally divides aggressors into two types – the Primal Aggressor and the Cognitive Aggressor. For the sake of simplicity, an example of a Primal Aggressor would be a father who snaps after he learns that the neighbor’s son has raped his daughter. However, school shooters are seldom ever of this type. This individual is more methodical and execute his or her plan with precision. They are the Cognitive Aggressor type.

Dr. Sokolow goes into great detail on the training and methods of an effective behavioral intervention team. His philosophy is not to put out the fire, but to prevent it from ever happening.

The entire paper can be found at:
http://www.ncherm.org/pdfs/2009NCHERMwhitepaper.pdf
I highly recommend that each of you take the time to read it.


After completing my research, I did what I do when I need to reflect. I wrote a poem. I know, I don't need to quit my day job! I just sometimes find it the best way to express my feelings.


How?

There must be a way to stop the madness.
The innocence lost and all the sadness.

Here to learn, to brighten their future.
Each one is different, each one has a place.
A lifetime of hope to be shared with the world,
A young mind determined to continue the chase.

There must be a way to stop the madness.
The innocence lost and all the sadness.

Some call them rowdy, careless, and crazy.
Too young to imagine how the “real world” is run.
“They live for the ballgames and weekends and parties.”
They’re young and their free and just having fun.

There must be a way to stop the madness.
The innocence lost and all the sadness.

They entered college on a path to the future.
They met friends, joined clubs, even found a new mate.
Their minds were expanding, trying to take it all in.
How could anyone ever imagined this was their fate?

There must be a way to stop the madness.
The innocence lost and all the sadness.

Someone’s brother, or sister or cousin.
Someone’s daughter and someone’s friend.
The tears are for all, the tears are for many.
The tears have not stopped, for they’re just beginning.

There must be a way to stop the madness.
The innocence lost and all the sadness.

He never saw the gun or the flash of light.
This can’t be happening, this is insane.
A life extinguished, so young and so bright.
So much to lose, and now nothing to gain.

There must be a way to stop the madness.
The innocence lost and all the sadness.