Viewpoint: School shooting should impel culture of acceptance, diversity / LJWorld.com

Archive for Tuesday, March 29, 2005

By Beth Ruhl - J-W Teen Advisory Board

March 29, 2005

Another seven dead: Jeff Weise's rampage at Red Lake High School has been named the worst school shooting since Columbine. Many school administrators are now starting to look at what went wrong and what steps can be taken to prevent a tragedy like this from happening again.

Some might assert that Weise was beyond help. After all, Cody Thunder had talked to him a few times, trying to reach out, and in the end Thunder was shot with the rest of the students. But I cannot help imagining a different outcome.

News reports have described Weise as a social outcast. He wore all black and had few friends. One might infer that he had come to a very difficult time in his life, with his father having committed suicide five years earlier and his mother in a nursing home.

Parents, teachers, school administrators, security personnel and school counseling programs all have very important roles to play in preventing such a tragedy, but I would like to take a look at the role of a piece of this puzzle that is often overlooked or misunderstood: the students.

Social outcasts exist in every school. We are social beings by nature; therefore, we categorize ourselves into groups. Whoever does not fit the norm is outcast. We all know someone like this. Sometimes they dress differently than we do, sometimes they have extreme political or religious views and sometimes they just act strangely. But whatever it is about them, they do not fit in.

A question lingering in the back of my mind has been, "What would have happened if he had been treated differently from the beginning?" I wonder what it would have been like if he had had a group of friends to support him through his difficult times.

This is something to consider the next time you see one of these people at school. You never know what a difference smiling, saying hello or just starting a conversation will make. You may even gain a new friend. We have nothing to lose and everything to gain here.

I am not saying that we, as students, should live in constant fear of a school shooting, but that we have the potential to make a difference in the lives of people like Weise and other social outcasts. By erasing the lines that divide us into these social categories, we create not only a safer atmosphere, but we also cultivate attitudes of diversity and acceptance.

Beth Ruhl is a senior at Bishop Seabury Academy.