Friday, March 29, 2024

Omo column was completely wrong

I must respectfully disagree with Michonne Omo’s assertion that social alienation and teasing leads to school shootings (“Target missed on causes of school shootings,” SN 3/13). In fact, I must say I believe it to be completely off-base.

First of all, there are dozens of school shootings every year. Those reported in the national media are only the most sensational - a kid snaps apparently without warning and starts pumping lead into a crowd of his or her classmates. This happened In Littleton, Colo., and now in California.

These stories received extensive coverage for weeks and months after the fact for two reasons: First of all, they were particularly gruesome. Secondly, they received lots of press precisely because they provided deeper dimension for reporters to cover.

They were a segue into the discussion of the cruelty and social alienation that sometimes occurs in high schools. This saturation coverage gives the impression that the majority of school shootings are related to feelings of alienation and rage. This is simply not true. Education Secretary Rod Paige is certainly a noted authority on education, but his comments on the factors contributing to school shootings were not quite accurate.

The FBI, the best experts in the world in criminal profiling, has refused to release a profile of a potential school shooter because unlike, for example, serial killers (reclusive single white men under 35, live alone, troubled childhood, few friends), school shooters share no defining characteristics that would make one student more likely to be a potential school shooter than any other student.

I doubt Omo or Paige figured out the profile of a school shooter before the FBI did.

Andrew Abramczyk
James Madison freshman

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