The Causes of Virginia Tech Tragedy

David Pearson

GW6

April 30, 2007

"Massacre," "Bloodbath," "32 killed people," "backlash," "ordeal," and "Chu." These words reflect what happened at Virginia tech when a student, Cho Seung-Hui, killed 32 innocent students before turning his gun on himself. At first he killed two students in a dormitory. Two hours later, the shooter went to the engineering building to continue his crime. The consequence of the second shooting is that 30 students were gunned down. Between the two shootings Chu went to a post office to send NBC news a package that contained some pictures and video clips of himself. People are wondering what caused this student to commit this crime. There are many factors involved in this crime such as mental illness, oppression, the ease of buying guns and violent video games.

One cause of the massacre at Virginia Tech is the gunman's mental illness. The gunman was a threat to himself and everybody else. According to Chorn.com, "On Dec. 13, 2005, a magistrate ordered Cho to undergo an evaluation at Carilion St. Albans, a private psychiatric hospital. The magistrate signed the order after an initial evaluation found probable cause that Cho was a danger to himself or others as a result of mental illness"(
Apuzzo par15). Furthermore, one of the experts said that the killer, Cho Seung-Hui, had mental illness not only because of the pressures of studying but also because of the lack of encouragement from his family. According to ABC7Chicago.com:

"This type of mental illness that this poor man had was not something that was likely precipitated by teasing or bullying," he said. More likely, he said, is that Cho had a biological psychiatric disorder that may have worsened in recent years because of the pressures of college life and his leaving the support of his family."(AP par 24)

Moreover, the shooter, an English major, had aggressive and pessimistic writing. His teacher, Lucinda Roy, noticed when she looked at his papers that they indicated a potential for violent. Consequently, she reported what she noticed to the police officers because she wondered if Cho were mentally illness or not. However, the police officers could not decide whether or not they should arrest him because the violence was not obvious in his writings, and the police officers could not base their decision on the teacher's feeling. According to CNN.com Cho's teacher said "Cho, an English major, never wrote about guns or killing people... But his writing was disturbing enough that she went to police and other university officials to seek help" she added "the threats seemed to be underneath the surface" ("Shooter" par.8).

In addition to his mental illness, his feeling of being oppressed is one of the causes of the shooting. Oppression sometimes leads to aggressive behaviors. And being oppressed might be a reason that Cho killed people. He may have felt it would restore his dignity. According to Dissident1's blog, "It doesn't matter what form of oppression it is, the inevitable consequence of oppression is aggression" (Dissident par.1). Cho's classmates were ironic when he read in class. A student at Virginia tech says "As soon as he started reading, the whole class started laughing and pointing and saying, 'Go Back to China'" ("Va. Tech" par.4). Consequently, Cho made a dire decision, which was to kill students.

It is understandable that a person with mental problems and a weak personality would do such a crime, but it is depressing that such people can get guns easily. Buying guns in the U.S. is a piece of cake. A person who wants to buy a gun "needs only two forms of ID" (Reich par. 1). Thus, the gun culture in the U.S. contributed to this matter. But what if it had been difficult to get guns? Would Cho have killed those innocent students? Definitely not. At the very least Cho would have committed a crime with fewer effects.

There was also less chance that students would have been killed if Cho had not been influenced by video games. Many people have blamed violent video games for displaying violent scenes which increase people's aggressive thoughts. According to Pam Willenz, "Playing violent video games like Doom, Wolfenstein 3D or Mortal Kombat can increase a person's aggressive thoughts, feelings and behavior both in laboratory settings and in actual life.

The reason that people blame violent media is that there was a video game called GRAND THEFT AUTO 3("Fox news" par. 1). The game displays acts similar to those at Virginia Tech. According to MSNBC, "Violent video games may be more harmful than violent television and movies because they are interactive, very engrossing and require the player to identify with the aggressor" (par. 14).

In conclusion, there are many causes that made Cho commit this crime. One cause is Cho's mental illness. Another cause is his feelings of being oppressed. The ease of buying guns in the U.S. is also a cause of this tragedy. In addition, many people believe that violent video games had an impact on Cho's life because of the similarity between one of the video games and the shooting in Virginia Tech. There are at least three causes of this tragedy, but none of them justifies his deed.

 

Work Citied

Apuzzo, Matt. "Virginia Tech Gunman Sent Material to NBC Before He Died." Houston Chronicle (2007): 15 pars. 30 Apr. 2007 <http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/nation/4724976.html>.

Benedetti, Winda. "Were Video Games to Blame for Massacre?" MSNBC. 20 Apr. 2007. 01 May 2007 <http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18220228/>.

Dissident. "oppression leads to aggression." Online posting. 2 Feb. 2007. 1 May 2007 <

http://www.rationalresponders.com/oppression_leads_to_aggression>.

"FOX NEWS blames Virginia Tech shooting on violent games (GRAND THEFT AUTO)." Online posting. 16 Apr. 2007. 3 may 2007 <http://digg.com/world_news/FOX_NEW

S_blames_Virginia_Tech_shooting_on_violent_games_GRAND_THEFT_AUTO>.

Reich, Robert "U.S. needs a prescription for gun control." Market Place 18 Apr. 2007. . 23 Apr.2007<http://marketplace.publicradio.org/shows/2007/04/18/PM2007

04184.html?refid=0>.

"Shooter's Writing Dripped with Anger." CNN.Com (2007). 30 Apr. 2007 <http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/04/17/vtech.shooting/index.html>.

"Va. Tech Killer Picked On, Classmates Say." CBS News 19 Apr. 2007. 1 May 2007 <
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/04/19/virginiatechshooting/main2703671.shtml>.

 

 

Willenz, Pam. "VIOLENT VIDEO GAMES CAN INCREASE AGGRESSION." APA Online. 23 Apr. 2000. 01 May 2007 <http://www.apa.org/releases/videogames.html>.

 

"Wisconsin Web Site Sold Gun to Va. Tech Shooter." ABC7Chicago.Com (2007): 24 pars. 30 Apr. 2007 <http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=nation_world&id=5220576>.