Tradegy Strikes Close To Home

As we all know, another school shooting occurred on February 14th, 2008, but this time it was in our own backyard. Late in the afternoon on February 14th, a gunman walked into a Geology classroom in the Cole Hall building of the Northern Illinois Campus and opened fire. Six people were killed and sixteen students were injured. We have seen an outbreak of these school shootings in colleges throughout the U.S. Until last Thursday, these shootings never really took a true toll on our lives. It makes people sit back and think, what could possibly make someone do something like this? What could make a person that angry that they walk into a room and fire a gun at innocent people? These tragedies have raised many questions: Should there be more gun control? Should we have a person’s mental health investigated before we allow them to purchase a gun? If we do all these things, are we letting fear win?

Maybe it could be even simpler than that; maybe the work can be done at schools everywhere. Instead of making a snide comment towards someone, we could ask how their day went. When we see bullying, maybe we could take that step to make sure it stops. Even just paying a little more attention to someone helps. The shooter at NIU seemed like a normal person to those who knew him, but as we learned more about him, it was discovered that he suffered from depression. That his moods had changed lately, that he was not the same person the teachers, friends, and family once knew him to be. What could have pushed Steven Kazmierczak over the edge? Being bullied is never an excuse for taking someone’s life. There is no excuse, no reason, and no words that can help make sense of this terrible tragedy. Maybe some good can come out of this, whether it’s stricter gun laws, better security systems, or even just an outreach program to help troubled students. While we do know that nothing about this terrible event will ever make sense, we encourage you to pray for the victims and their families. If anyone needs to talk, reach out to a guidance counselor or a close friend, even a peer mediator. We will forever be affected by this tragedy. “Today we are all Huskies.”