ON Thursday, it happened again -- a news event as morbidly mesmerizing as the high-profile murders of Nicole Brown and Ron Goldman, and the car-crash deaths of Diana and Dodi. Of all the horrible happenings in the world, I wondered, why was this particular crimein Springfield, Ore.,especially troubling? What school shootings
have in commonCould it have been the youthfulness of the gunman?
No, the 15-year-old suspect in the murder of his parents and a subsequent shooting spree at his school cafeteria was about the same age as other trigger-happy teens in the headlines of late. Back in March, an 11-year-old and 13-year-old reportedly killed a teacher and four girls in Jonesboro, Ark. And last December, a 14-year-old is said to have fatally shot three girls in Paducah, Ky.
What else, then, could have caused this "problem" that was eating away at my insides?
Was the true culprit in these school tragedies the easy accessibility of guns in this country?
Was it the chic way that violence is depicted in everything from movies and television to video games and comic books?
Or are juveniles just more screwed-up these days because of too much drugs and peer pressure, and too little religion and parental guidance?
Certainly, it would be easier to blame these things. But the explanation may be more insidious:
The reason we were transfixed on O.J. Simpson is because society quietly accepts and thereby turns its back on victims of domestic violence, like Nicole Brown. Since most folks believe what couples do in their homes is their own business, when the former Mrs. O.J. Simpson turned up dead, what explained some of the fascination? Guilt.
Which brings us to the shootings by youthful offenders. Before the Springfield incident, what they had in common was that the victims were girls, which led to the theory that these were cases of violence against females.
But what do they really have in common? All of the assailants were adolescent boys.
THE reason the deaths in Springfield, Ore., are so transfixing is because most of us (myself included, I'm sorry to admit) treat girls and boys in different ways.
Boys are raised to be tough, aggressive and bold.
In the South, a young male handling a gun is a rite of passage.
In movies and TV, tough guys who kill, kick and maim are idolized.
Young boys are slapped on the back and brainwashed with macho truisms like, "Be a man," and "Don't take crap from anybody."
And yet society has the nerve to be surprised when the testosterone overflows!
Which is why the latest in a string of school shootings fascinates readers and viewers. Maybe it's collective guilt: over the rigid double standard still being used to raise boys, the shock when male teens do go over the edge, and trying to forget that -- because of widespread stereotypical behavior and beliefs starting from small-kid time -- more than one accomplice helped load that smoking weapon.
Diane Yukihiro Chang's column runs Monday and Friday.
She can be reached by phone at 525-8607, via e-mail at
DianeChang@aol.com, or by fax at 523-7863.