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David Spates There is no why in "senseless violence" People seem to have a tough time getting by
the why. I don't blame them. Why is often the most important
question. The whos, whats, wheres, whens and hows often can be
answered fairly easily, but the whys are a whole other matter. The whys are particularly troubling in the
too-numerous school shootings that have grabbed the headlines
in recent years, months and weeks. Why would a child shoot classmates
at school? (Why would a child shoot classmates anywhere, for
that matter?) Why did these boys do what they did? Well, the fact is that I'm tired of wondering
why these kids did it. What answer would be satisfactory? What
could these kids tell you that would make you say, "Oh,
that's why you shot 20 and killed seven? Well, I certainly
see your point." There is no why. Why is not a factor. Why
doesn't exist in a school shooting or in any act of senseless
violence. There is absolutely no way these killers can justify
their actions, but we as a nation continue to ask why. I blame my media brethren in part for sustaining
the pursuit to discover why. After all, why is one of the six
questions reporters are supposed to answer before even thinking
about writing a news story. The why is the tough one, and reporters
like to uncover the why. We enjoy getting to the bottom of things
-- answering all the questions and wrapping up the story in a
nice, neat package with a big bow on top. When we can't provide
an answer for the why, it irks us. We reporters don't appreciate
it when a question can't be answered. When a question is left
unanswered, the nose-for-news kicks into overdrive, and the desire
to answer the why becomes an issue of pride. The why has become
secondary at that point -- there's an answer out there somewhere
and I'm going to be the one to find it. But when there is no why, we media types feel
like we have to cover our bases, so we ask for opinions of the
people who ideally should be able to provide us with the why.
So the "experts" provide us with theories, conjecture,
speculation and plenty of assumption, and we, as the dutiful
little Mercuries we try to be, pass along those "expert"
theories, conjectures, speculations and assumptions to you, the
reading and watching public. I don't believe my fellow reporters, editors
and anchors perpetuate this pointless pursuit of why with any
ulterior motives, it's just that we feel like we need to offer
our readers and viewers as complete a picture as we can. The
trouble is that sometimes there simply aren't enough pieces in
the puzzle. When we in the media try to provide a why
when there is no why, often we end up pointing fingers at anything
and everything. (Or better yet, we report that the "experts"
are pointing their fingers and anything and everything. A premise
seems much more credible if you can find a gray-templed academician
with a few abbreviations after his name to back you up.) So we theorize that perhaps the kid shot up
the school because he was picked on and teased. If everyone who
was ever picked on and teased decided to spray the gym with bullets,
there would be no one left. Everyone gets picked on at school.
It's just part of the experience. I was picked on, you were picked
on, and even the popular kids were picked on at some point. Is
it fair? Of course not, but who ever promised you fair treatment
all the time? As soon as life gets fair, let me know. Don't worry if that theory for why doesn't
fry your bacon. We've got a million of 'em. Maybe these kids
just wanted to get their faces on TV. Maybe we should blame TV
or video games. Maybe we should blame Marilyn Manson. Maybe we
should blame the gunmakers. Maybe the kids didn't get enough
zinc in their diets when they were infants. If finding the real why will help parents
and teachers prevent another school shooting somewhere else,
then that's great. I suspect, however, that the whys of each
shooting are unique. Although there has been a pattern developing
in the emotional makeup of the shooters across the country, it
hasn't turned out to be of much use. Loner, depressed, introverted,
unhappy with his life, a hot temper in terms of dealing with
other people -- those are among the descriptions common to the
school shooters. The trouble is that those descriptions fit millions
of teen-agers across the country. A depressed and moody teen-ager
isn't exactly a novelty. There's nothing wrong with trying to find out why, but, like I said, sometimes there is no why. There's a reason why they call these shootings "senseless acts of violence." The keyword there is "senseless." Why have so many children been murdered in and out of school? Because, sadly, bad things happen to good people. That's why. |