what i’ve learned from the Vtech shootings

while reading my list of lessons learned, play this latest song by Mika – Any Other World – i think it fits perfectly.

1) life is short, and everyday is a gift.

2) america has compassion for americans, but no one else. (two days after the shooting, 130+ died in a bombing in bagdhad, that’s 4x the carnage, and it barely got a mention on CNN) a human life is a human life is a human life. why is it so easy for us to dismiss death when its not american? i’m guilty of it too, and i’m not judging anyone, i just want to know, what it is about our society that makes us have compassion for some and not others. is it learned? is it instinctual?

3) web 2.0 has changed the way we interact with one another. email, facebook, and IM were the quickest way for people to get information about loved ones. some people even found out that their friends died because they saw memorials set up in myspace. information is passed in real-time now, and to be honest, i’m a bit fascinated by how much web 2.0 technology is changing how we deal with grief. i came across this feature on cnn, that allows freinds/family to submit messages and prayers about the fallen victims.

4) the news media exploits EVERY angle it can, to make the killer seem LESS american. because its easier to hate someone that’s not american than it is to hate one of our own. a lot of people have talked about how they’re playing up his asian immigrant status, but i think they woudl’ve done this regardless of where he immigrated from. again, the media is simply exploiting the most non-american parts about him.

5) the FCC is hyprocritical. they go crazy when janet jackson’s boob is shown accidentally for less than a second, but they deem it appropriate and less offensive to show a mentally deranged kid pointing a gun at the camera with videos spewing hate speech and again, more GUNS pointed stright at the cameras into our living rooms. and they dont just show it once, i watched tv for like 10 mins, and i must’ve seen the video footage at least 7 times. and any newspaper or CNN ran a picture of the kid with the guns. to me, these images are WAY more unsettling and offensive than a nano-second flash of a wayward breast. give me a break. it’s no wonder kids have such messed up notions of self image, and have so many violence/anger issues nowadays.

6) there’s no way the head of the college coudl’ve predicted this would’ve happened, and i know everyone will be quick to jump on him and the police. but that’s why these are tragedies. could things have been done differently? yes! but hindsight always gives us the chance to pass blame. same thing could be said about ANY tragedy. of course it could’ve been avoided if we knew then what we know now. and personally, i think its unfair to lay all the blame on the school and the president, when the blame SHOULD FALL solely on the effin’ guy that shot everyone.

~ by shrimpfriedbryce on April 20, 2007.