Reflections on the Virginia Tech School Tragedy

As a mother I am disturbed by the images of the killer which were shown repeatedly on almost all news channels. As one participant in the discussion on Oprah commented that the media did exactly what Cho wanted them to do and make him an immortal criminal while there was little or nothing about the victims, only few stories from the eye witnesses.

What about the people who are on the fringe and now have someone like Cho to identify with, and feel justified in doing what he did?

Dr Sohail,

Once again a fabulous read, many thanks.

Back home in Pakistan (tribal areas) a 12 year old boy was filmed beheading a suspected informant, this video is now readily available in the world of cyberspace and local markets of tribal areas as a promotional video. Your professional opinion on these sick people, thanks

Arif

...Those Taliban Videos not withstanding....or an isolated incident in Japan


But in about 8-10 years, and 14 to 16 Such Incidents.

...something which has now becaome a unique special phenomenan in the US of A.


any comment on that.

Dr. Sohail,

The Middle Eastern student told... he had left the Middle East and come to America because of such violence and now he was seeing the same violence in America.

That student was wrong. Noone in the Middle East sprays a hall full of people with bullets without any reason, whether political or religious. It only happens in America.

Perhaps you would like to touch upon why?

Rgds

... oops .. aquaris already asked that ..

#3 by aquaris on April 25, 2007 3:03am PT


...Those Taliban Videos not withstanding


that`s right...let`s just ignore a 12 year old paki boy beheading a human being..or all the pakis who`ve blown themselves up in suicide bombings..or all the paki expats who get busted for terrorism...no siree..we can`t call that a ``unique paki problem`` or ``unique islamic problem``...

Two more comments.

1- It appears , atleast in USA that WAR Culture has taken a form of entertainment culture.


you pick a large pack of Pop Corns, sit down beside you TV, and channel surf, the various WAR images from Gulf, Afghanistan, Middle East,......and else where,.......and stammer out a little....`` thats horrible ....`` every now and then.
...without realizing, the persons in those images are as real ,as any One.......Period.


2- another, same old, sick one,......What if had ``Cho `` or whatever, turned out to be a `` Musla..``.......??

Re: # 6


... you again CREATED an Oportunity out of it, to Jump on your Favourite Pass time.....!!


.... the cause there is RATHER Understandable......In your Own TERMs....its their Religion.....right...!!


...the question is this Unique US of A`s special phenomenon.

Dr Khalid Sohail Sahib, as usual, a very informative writeup from you. Thanks.

My question is that why this happens mostly in the US? You haven’t touched upon the Gun Culture and lenient Gun Laws of the US in your article. Was this something you deliberately not wanted to take in to consideration? In Virginia, where it happened, my grandma (who is dead) can walk into a gun store and buy a semi-automatic on her credit card.

Re: # 4

Bhai Z(j)ee,

Aapnay farmya

{Noone in the Middle East sprays a hall full of people with bullets without any reason, whether political or religious}

Blowing people up doesnt count? Suicide bombings in Amman, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Morrocco, Egypt not counting daily affair in Eeerak (Iraq). Scores of innocent peolpe have been killed.

Re: # 9
dear kulharee....you are right. i did not touch on the subject of gun control. it is such a big

topic that needs a lengthy discussion of its own. as a peace loving citizen i do not think why

a common citizen needs to carry a gun. we are all human and we can feel frustrated and

angry. we can express it verbally but if we carry guns then people can express their

anger...even road rage with guns and kill each other. the other issue is people`s trust in

police. in canada police is trusted more than in pakistan. maybe people living in america

can tell us about their trust in police. i know blacks in america do not fully trust white

policemen. your point well taken...sincerely sohail

Re: # 11

Dr Sahib, last Sunday, on 60 Minutes (a CBS show), a segment was done on what is referred to as ‘Snitching’, a term that means ‘ratting on someone’. ‘Stop Snitchin’ is a phrase popularized by Rap culture in the inner city ghettos, and further promoted by big label recording corporations for profiteering. Black youth (at least in the urban environment) have no confidence in the Police, and snitching is considered a crime in itself in these communities, because of which, many crimes go unsolved.

I am of the opinion, that serial killings has a lot to do (if not all) with easy availability of guns in the US. The mental state of Serial Killers is obviously something that the psychiatric community pays a lot of attention to, and as you pointed out the psychopathic disposition of the mass murderers. You mentioned that Cho exhibited psychological traits of a disturbed person and that by no means he was mentally severely ill. I saw a show on TV last week where a group of ‘experts’ were blaming mental illness (I wanted to kill them after I heard their views). I believe that that kind of talk further stigmatizes the mentally ill, because many serial killers might suffer from some sort of mental illness, certainly not all mentally ill people go on killing sprees. So, I share your views completely.

In New York, it is a very common sight to see mentally ill people inter-mingled in the society at large. Their attending physician can determine the severity of the illness, but generally speaking, it varies from place to place. Society here is very tolerant of the mentally ill. Which I believe is a good thing. My friend in NYC runs a centre for mentally ill (check out ICCD.org) and it is one of many success stories.

Re: # 2

dear arif....children can be exposed to two environments in their families and communities...

a, a peaceful environment in which conflicts are resolved with dialogue and mutual respect

b, violent environment in which parents abuse each other, families and tribes kill each

other to settle conflicts.

In so many parts of the world TRIBAL MENTALITY is still pervasive and people not

belonging to the same tribe....culture, religion, race, language etc is considered enemy and

can be killed...and killed mercilessly...beheading is just one example or other forms of

torture.

I am of the opinion that we need to raise children with the philosophy that we all belong to

the same family, same tribe....human family, human tribe. and we need to resolve our

social, political and religious conflicts peacefully. for american children to see their

president not respecting united nations and for muslim children to see their religious

leaders not respecting each other and calling each other kafir and sunnis and shiites killing

each other are not good role models for next generation....sincerely sohail

Re: # 12

dear kulharee...i agree with you that most people who suffer from serious mental illness...

schizophrenia and manic depressive illness are not violent and most murders are

committed by people who do not suffer from serious mental illness....they have

psychopathic personality disorder and were raised in violent families and communities. it

is sad to see how black community has poor role models and are proceeding on a self

destructive path. i am of the opinion that we need an open dialogue at every level of

society between peace consciousness and violent consciousness....sincerely sohail

Re: # 13

Dr Sohail,

Thankyou for the kind reply.

If I understand you correctly, then these poor kids subjected to such a horrific experience can suffer from psychosis, loose their perspective of life and loose basic emotional capabilities. Same characteristics seen with Cho, serious emotional problems from early childhood. Repressed societal structure leading to introverted and withdrawn personalities. All symptoms of classic mass murderers or psychopaths. Is that a correct assumption.

Thanks

dr shohail.

..... according to professor masadi (in his article on the same subject that chowk staff refuses to print) the vt killings are a direct result of the excesses and decadence of the `power elite` in the united states ........ what do you think ?