Worldly Chatter

I sat dumbfounded watching the news on CNN last night. Naturally it was all over CNN international but when I turned on the Dutch morning news they had the story going; a correspondent there on the scene relaying via phone. I get on my computer and read the story on Dutch newspapers. For the most part American news doesn’t hit headlines unless pertaining to the war or something drastic like this. The relevance to everyday affairs isn’t important on a larger scale to most European life.
32 people dead in a school shooting at Virginia Tech, it shocks people and they can’t help but talk about it on forums and online sites where the news can be read, Dutch and expat alike all asking the same questions. Why wasn’t the school shut down after the first shooting? Why did it seem like such sloppy organization on the news? Why were these kids being evacuated right after the first shooting, thus minimizing the threat? So many assumptions on the part of law enforcement, they had thought the shooter left campus, that it was a domestic issue. Does it matter? Shouldn’t the school have been shut down anyway? Rather a panic on campus than this so many say. Questions I am sure Americans are asking as well. What seems to be a hot topic this morning however is why does it happen more often in America than anywhere else?
While searching one can easily find school massacres dating back to the fifties, a handful in Germany, the Middle East and Canada but the majority reported happen in America. Further still, some are saying is that a good portion of school shootings that happen in America occur in mid-western and southern states where the pride of the right to bear arms is practically worn on their sleeves. Doing a little googling I come to find out that it isn’t just the south where tradition in owning a gun goes way back but throughout the east coast and west only seeming to be minimal in the central states.
If it happens mostly in America, why isn’t America looking at this? Why won’t they see the bigger picture? I as an American don’t have that answer but do ponder the same questions. Why is it so violent over there?
They haven’t released the name of the man who has done this; they are still tossing the idea of whether it was one or two shooters and only confirm the number dead and injured. Services and counseling are being offered at the college though classes are for now canceled. Across the world people wait for answers and wonder why more wasn’t done. Is it wrong for the rest of the world to criticize what law enforcement in this case? Is it wrong for the rest of the world to sit by and watch America fall at the seams in its own schools and question why; ponder why more hasn’t been done to protect the youth?

school shootings, Virginia Tech shooting