Dawson college shooting: The dangers of under - and over-reaction
ALISHA PAUL STAFF
Last week a man walked into Dawson College in Montreal, pulled out a gun and began shooting. This event and others like it are becoming commonplace among students attending high schools, colleges and universities across the globe. Students, teachers, and parents everywhere sit paralyzed in front of their television sets waiting for the final count of the injured and the dead. One can’t help but wonder, while sitting at the computer in my very own university, who will be next and why?
Questions like these go seemingly unanswered in the days, weeks and years following a school shooting. Although experts are studying cases such as Columbine, Taber, and École Polytechnique, there is no existing profile of a student shooter. Someone you would expect, someone you wouldn’t. Someone you’ve never met, someone you talk to every day. The shootings are in part or completely at random, and are frequently acted out by those who are not only homicidal, but suicidal as well. So what then is the appropriate response to these tragic and shocking events? Some experts reference prevention as the key. J. Kevin Cameron, a trauma consultant who acted as the team leader for the Taber Crisis Response Team, cites that perhaps common signs are being overlooked and that with more training, responses such as overreaction and under-reaction could be remedied.
Today that responsibility seems to mostly fall on educators’ shoulders. Are we putting too much pressure on the educational system to handle yet another job? It seems that teaching has become a multi-tiered responsibility. Not only must you act as educator, but counsellor, security person, trauma and grief expert, and the list goes on. Many administrators and school divisions wrestle with the idea of implementing more security measures for fear of imprisoning their staff and students. Metal detectors and closedgate communities are increasingly becoming the norm in many educational facilities. While the idea of increased visible security may help on the surface, what is the true effect? Do metal detectors make students feel safe, or do they fuel the anxiety and fear that are now posing a threat to our learning environment? What is the balancing point between too much and too little?
While students and staff head back to Dawson College this week, and attempt to start over, our thoughts turn to those who have lost their lives in these senseless acts. While friends and family of the young life lost begin to mourn, the rest of the world will continue the debate over whether trumping up security measures will benefit us overall or if an overreaction will only create a more widespread and possibly more dangerous situation.
