Preventable Tragedy

Both in the US and here in Canada, the true story is often never told. We hear how disturbed the killer was, how sick, how evil.

But we never hear the real truth. That many of these school shootings are the result of a culture that all contribute to. A culture of cruelty and intimidation, of cliques and loners.

I encourage everyone to listen to what Cho Seung-Hui says in his videotaped manifesto. He calls Kleybold and Harris martyrs, and rails against those who tormented him.

We must all, parents and students and the world at large alike, realize the real truth. That only through kindness and respect, through diligence and watchfulness, and through a real desire to help our fellow man, can we begin to combat this violent cycle.

Only through understanding can we avoid these massacres. For we are a society that is as sick as the sickest of us.

So remember, every time you see someone being bullied, or acting strangly, or crying out for help, remember. Remember that incidents like the recent one at Virginia Tech are the price we pay for doing nothing.