Friday, May 18, 2007 Speak out: Revisiting the Virginia Tech massacre By Luis D. Bayot
MUCH has been said about the character of Cho Seung-hui, the man involved in the Virginia Tech massacre last month. Or of how cold-blooded and insane he was.
With no intention of dishonoring the innocent victims, I view the incident from a different perspective.
Has anybody ever wondered about the youth’s social culture?
Contemporary youth culture, especially in the West, places excessive premium on good looks, smarts, good health, money, independence, pleasure, and of being “cool.”
Young people of lesser convictions who do not possess those traits will certainly feel insecure and even bitter.
How much of a factor in Cho’s decision to kill were the life-long bullying and racial ridicule he experienced in the schools he attended?
How much of a factor was parental pressure for him to achieve the “American Dream”?
Did his parents take time off from work to listen to him?
Unlike Westerners who declare themselves independent when they reach eighteen years of age, Asians put much priority on obligations to family and use these to guide all their decisions.
And what about his poetry teacher, who noticed his odd behavior and said that she demanded that her supervisor remove Cho from her class or else she would resign?
What a cold blooded, feeling superstar teacher!
Was Cho simply a person who refused to integrate with popular culture and values, revolting at his environment, searching in vain for an identity, even if it meant going against all norms?
