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March 16, 2009
-- Opinion --
Trying to prevent the next school shooting
By Katie Grosser
Senior Reporter, Youth Journalism International
MESCHEDE, Calle, Germany – It’s something most
students would never think about. It’s what teachers hope will never happen.
It’s a parent’s worst nightmare.
Last week, 17-year-old Tim Kretschmer entered his former school in the small
Southern German town of Winnenden and gunned down 12 people before killing three
more on his flight and finally taking his own life.
On Wednesday, March 11, Germany was, and Germany still is, in shock.
Just like seven years ago, when an expelled student went on a killing spree in
the East German town of Erfurt, the questions are coming from everywhere and
they are coming fast. Why? How? What could have been done to prevent this? What
can we do to prevent this from happening again?
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The sad fact is that there are but few answers. Although the topic is omnipresent in the media with newspapers, television, internet and radio running constant coverage, and experts continuously commenting on the rampage, no one seems to know what to do at German schools.
The main problem is that no one saw this coming.
Kretschmer was an inconspicuous youth, described as being quiet and nice. News
reports said he frequently played violent computer games. His father is a gun
club member, according to newspaper reports and is in the possession of a number
of guns, one of which he kept in his bedroom. This gun reportedly became the
murder weapon.
But the solution can’t be to forbid the legal possession of guns. Germany’s gun
legislation is comparatively strict. And since most such rampages are planned,
the youth would most likely have found some other way of acquiring a gun.
The school Kretschmer attended seems to have been a model school. The
Albertville-Realschule was renowned – it had high standards, good connections to
the community and its own social worker, which most German schools do not have.
Could metal detectors or a security guard have prevented this massacre? The
answer cannot be to turn German schools into fortresses. This could create an
atmosphere of panic and constant suspicion.
And it’s not what German students want.
The German government is holding back on demands to change German legislation.
The common consent is that there is nothing that can be done legally about
rampages like in Winnenden.
Teachers have been criticizing the small number of school psychologists in
Germany but even if their numbers were increased, the question would be how much
they could actually do.
Too often, school psychologists have to deal with too many students and
consequently have a hard time recognizing a murderer. Sometimes, they can’t stop
someone from running amok because – as it was the case in Winnenden and Erfurt –
the student doesn’t even attend the school anymore.
The sad reality is that little can actually be done. German society’s philosophy
is for its children to deal with personal problems themselves more so than it
seems to be in the cultures of Southern European countries, where emotions are
dealt with and shown more openly.
A solution might be for everyone to pay more attention. To listen when someone
has problems, to see when someone has troubles, to be nice even to the outsiders
that may seem different at first but after all are just human and want to be
accepted and respected just like everyone else.
Too soon, the events of Winnenden will start to be forgotten by all those who
are not directly affected.
The shock will subside and the fear might disappear, but the threat will remain
real. The next shooting will come. It could be in Germany, it could be in
Europe, it could be in America, it could be anywhere in the world.
The only thing we can hope for is a bit more kindness, a nice word, a friendly
smile, an honest compliment.
Maybe it’s the little things that can go a long way to preventing similar
tragedies from happening. At least, it is something to hope for.
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