Cubernoon.com
April 20 2007


News- Are Indian youth turning towards violence too?

The recent shooting at America’s esteemed Virginia Tech campus has raised concern about our youth

The Virginia Tech shootout is the worst of a long line of American campus firings. Though other options have opened up, America still remains one of the top countries for higher studies.

However, this incident where two Indians have lost their lives might change the attitudes of many. Moreover, some fear that the Indian youth might be treading the same path right now. Sukaina Esmail, an independent psychologist who works with a juvenile home did not have a very positive response to give when asked if it is possible that in a few years’ time India will experience such incidents on campuses.“Unfortunately, yes,” she said. “Since I work with a juvenile centre, I know what I am talking about, when I say that today’s teenagers are increasingly moving towards violence.”

She gave us a profile of the shooter, or rather, of anyone who gets so hot under the collar that picking up a gun and shooting people around him is the only option left in his mind. “Such a person most definitely comes from a very unstable home,” she said. “It is a process of dulling the mind about right and wrong which arises from a combination of factors, the leading one being inadequate parental morals. This person has probably been exposed to a lot of violence, either at home or through television, and has an inability to delay his gratification. Usually an incident that is perceived to be a personal failure triggers the violence.”

One of the theories is that Cho Seung-Hui, the shooter, started shooting after his alleged girlfriend, Emily Jane Hilscher, broke up with him. His dormitory mates said that nobody knew much about him as he was always a bonafide loner. Cho Seung-Hui suspected Emily Jane Hilscher of having an affair with twenty two-year-old Ryan Clark, her neighbour on the fourth floor of the West Ambler Johnston Hall dormitory. At 7:15am Cho shot his ex-girlfriend and Clark. However, no immediate action was taken. The reason for this lapse is relatively unknown. Shooting resumed two hours later.

The Superintendent of the Virginia State Police, Steven Flaherty, is known to have stated that the police are looking into the possibility of two different shooters. Cho shot himself upon being surrounded by the police. When we contacted Dr. Kirti Narain, Principal of Jai Hind College, she stated that such a situation cannot arise in India but stressed on the words ‘as of now’.“It is very difficult to predict at this juncture, but as of now looking at the current scenario, I do not think such shootouts can happen in Indian colleges with such regularity,” she said. Dr. Narain attributes this thought to the family support systems and early inculcation of values available to young Indians even in this era of fast drugs and a fast lifestyle.“There will be stray incidents of course, but such incidents are very common in the US,” she continued. “Such kind of deep-seated anger that would lead to picking up a gun and shooting your peers, colleagues and friends is not something we are likely to witness at this point. Of course, one never knows what the future might hold.”Jai Hind takes care of its students by not only providing formal counselling to them but also making the faculty members as available to their needs as possible.“I have always maintained this and I say it again,” said Dr. Narain. “Bringing up a responsible and secure generation of young adults requires the efforts of a three-tiered system: parents, society and educational institutes.

Jai Hind by its very nature chooses to be compassionate to the students. Formal counselling is not the only option available to our children.”Nineteen-year-old Sarnath Pawar is a student at IIT, Powai. He admits to getting stressed more than his peers as he stays away from his family, based in Calcutta.“I have been in Bombay for the last year and half now, and I have made friends,” he said. “Whenever I am stressed I only have to call up my parents. My mother is always there to talk to me about my problems.”Pawar admits to having been very shy when he had first made the shift.“I used to do nothing but study,” he said. “I had no social life and barely spoke to anyone for long. Even today I am not as social as others around me but I do have a good set of friends, most of whom are from out-of-town as well. Good friends ease stressful moments, just like family.”When asked about America, Pawar said that he cannot blame the youth as their parents have clearly done a ‘not-so-great job’ of bringing them up.“Out there they have no sense of the word family,” he said. “Most of the times parents don’t know what their children are doing. It is not about controlling them; it is about caring enough to know what’s going on in your child’s life. And also American parents have strange lifestyles. Even celebrities do whatever they want, no matter what they are famous for. Children don’t have good role models there. So they don’t know how to be role models themselves.”While school and college shootings in America are common, many expressed shock that such an incident had occurred on the Virginia Tech campus. It was regarded as one of America’s safest campuses. But this is not the first time it was the scene of a shootout. In August 2006, the opening day of classes was cancelled and the campus closed when an escaped jail inmate allegedly killed a hospital guard off campus and fled to the Tech area. A sheriff’s deputy involved in the manhunt was killed on a trail around the campus. The accused gunman, William Morva was ultimately caught.
History of shootings in the past The most horrific of all American campus shootings occurred in 1966 at the University of Texas. He climbed up on the campus tower – 307 feet tall – and shot for 96 uninterrupted minutes before the police could bring him down. Having trained in the military, he excelled at hitting moving targets.The Columbine High School massacre occurred on Tuesday, April 20, 1999, at Columbine High School in unincorporated Jefferson County, Colorado. Two teenage students, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, carried out a shooting rampage, killing twelve students and a teacher, as well as wounding twenty-four others, before committing suicide. After the 2007 Virginia Tech and the Texas University massacres, this is the most horrific.In November 2005, Tennessee, the Principal and Acting Administrator John Klang has lost his life. John was a true hero who was shot 3 times while trying to protect his students and staff from a 15-year-old student who was armed with a shotgun, and a .9mm handgun. March 2007. A sixteen-year-old male killed himself while in the band hallway area of the school around 7:15 a.m. No other students were injured. January 2007. An 18-year-old was arrested for shooting and killing a 17-year-old at their school.

The suspect allegedly shot the victim in the face and then stood over him, firing twice more.December 2006. A 16-year-old shot and killed himself with an AK-47 assault rifle in the hallway of his high school. September 2006. Five Duquesne University basketball players were wounded after a shooting on campus after a dance. One of the two shooters was allegedly upset that his date had talked to one of the athletes.August 2006. After shooting his father, a student opened fire at his high school, injuring two students. Deputies found guns, ammunition, and homemade pipe bombs in the student’s car. August 2006. A gunman shoots five people, killing two of them, in a rampage through two houses and an elementary school, before wounding himself.March 2005. Ten killed (shooter killed nine and then himself) and seven injured in rampage by high school student.March 2005. A school bus driver was shot and killed on duty by a 14-year-old who had been reported to administrators by the driver for chewing tobacco on the bus.

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