the shooting in IL, really shaken, please help.

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so everyone heard about the shooting in Illinois? right? well I could really use some help here.
theres is a tiny bit of a connection to me that seems to be bothering me more than I should.
first thing that freaked me out is that it has happened in the state that I live in, and it seems to be really freaky (that I just learned yesterday) to me when your local news is the headliner on the national news. and then today I learned that the shooter is from Champaign IL, he had gone to the university of Illinois, WHERE MY PARENTS WORK.
this shouldn't be freaking me out anymore than it does someone who lives 3000 miles away and has no relation in any way. but its freaking me out a whole lot, I can't seem to focus on anything.
sorry for the pity rant. or whatever this is.
but help...

Sheez, your parents work there? No wonder you're freaked out. I would be, too. It's amazing you can even post anything. How are your parents handling it?

not the one where the shooting happened, thank god, but the shooter had... transfered i think... to the U of I in champaign IL where my parents work. the shooting was on another campus (that I think is a sister to the champaign University or something like that) in DeKalb county in northern Illinois.
but it's still freaky... right? or am I acting crazy?

You aren't acting crazy at all. I was at Virginia Tech when the shootings happened, and yesterday I nearly fell over when I saw the news. I don't know anyone at that university. I was barely aware that that university existed. It just hit too close to home. Sounds like something similar happened to you.

(edit: realized the wording might not convey quite what I wanted. Had I not been at Virginia Tech, yesterday's events would have still bothered me, but it probably wouldn't have affected me physically.)

Last edited by shadexiii on 15 Feb 2008, 7:03 pm, edited 1 time in total.

shadexiii:
the closest thing I have ever experienced was that last school year right after VT, a kid wrote a threat on the High school bathroom mirror. but nothing happened.
the news just said he graduated from the University where my parents work at, he majored in social work.

There's a big difference between a threat and an actual event.

It sounds like it wasn't so much that you had a similar experience previously, but that the incident occurred close to (not geographically, more.... can't think of the word, maybe contextually?) people in your life. The stronger the connection that the event has to you, the more likely that it will have a greater impact.

thanks, really appreciate it

I'm a little freaked about this too. I live about 45 minutes from U of I so being so close to where someone like that went to school is a bit scary.

These random-mass-murder-suicide shootings seem to be happening so regularly now that I hardly pay attention any more--I am in Illinois myself, maybe about 30 miles from DeKalb.

I don't live in IL, but it had me quite upset too. The fact that this is happening so much really bothers me deeply. I'm not becoming desensitized, I'm becoming really worried about the state of our society's young people.

My guess is that what you've seen on tv, the stuff about the shooters, has suddenly become "real" to you. It could have been your parents that were hurt or killed. That would scare the hell out of me, if it was someone I loved that I'd suddenly realized was vulnerable.

I work on a university campus. Every time there's a shooting on a campus anywhere in the world, we feel it. Because we know. It's real. It's always unusually quiet for a few days after a tragedy like this. Because we can see it happening where we are, perhaps, someday. And that makes our world a little less safe.

The chances of your parents being taken from you or being hurt in that way is very, very small. It's just hard when you finally realize that they, and you, are really mortal. TV can sometimes show things that are real and aren't always stories thought up to entertain us. It can be a scary world.

May they rest in peace, those who are gone. And may they find peace, those who were left behind. You should let your parents know that you are upset.

Judging from the news, school shootings only occur in the United States...

Why does it matter that it happens at a place of learning? We are programmed to protect (and therefore care about) kids, but these are adults. We all look for connections... The attack happened at a place of learning, i.e. a school, and kids go to schools. Not only that, but WE went to not just one school, but several (and a huge chunk of the population still go). And although it was not in a classroom, it was during a lecture, which is close enough. Schools are escpecially potent, because it hits kids (and anyone else) in school a bit harder, and that creates another connection for parents.

There are connections to us. When something happens and we can't find strong associations to ourselves, we dismiss it. If we find connections on a personal level, it makes us feel unique, and therefore uniquely vulnerable. We can associate with the victims without having a clue who they are. It's normal and understandable, even if not completely logical.

I doubted they happened more often today, but I was incorrect, at least for simple frequency: http://www.answers.com/topic/school-shooting

I lived most of my teenage years like that and its not a pleasant thing.

But you learn from it. You cannot prepare for the unexpected but you can prepare to be surprised & how to react.

I have not heard anything about school shootings happening in australia, I think guns are way to easy to get in america. And why do the idiots need to shoot other people before they kill themself. One day schools will probably have bullet proof uniforms.

Hi squier,

A lot closer to home, and less reaction than the threat from last year. You are getting old.

By the math, there is little closer, and a big world farther out. Odds are 1000 to 1 it is moving away from you. Also for what it is worth, people might pay more attention, but what can you do?

VT and this one had Graduated. Some fear of going out into the world, feeling unprepared, and blame education?

The job market is not that great, but this is no answer.

Becoming Public Loony Number One for fifteen minutes is not popular.

I think too much press coverage. They get a moment of fame.

Today some really nice people with a lot of promise were killed by a sicko loser on a self indulgent crybaby tantrum. Our hearts go out to their friends and family at this time of their personal loss.

The body of the killer, and all records of their existance and life were dumped in the DeKalb County landfill with the rest of the garbage and dead animals.

It is a local tragedy, the national media feeding frenzy leads to others seeking the same fame.

If they do it for attention, getting their name and story out, the answer is to never mention their name again. By their acts they deserve to become a non-person. As long as the press spreads their name and face over the world, others will follow their path.

I have a low opinion of people who murder strangers to get on TV.

When a truck runs out of control and kills a family, we do not have pictures of the truck on the national news for a week, with stories from the guy who sold it, it's make, model, year of manufacture, options package, every route it ran, the line mechanics who assembled it, or quacks talking about the quality of the metal it was made of, it is namelessly hauled to the scrapyard and cut up and melted.

The story was about the family that died.

The Media causes most of these tragic events.

Those who's lives were cut short deserve the attention, with a national mourning over their loss.

I call for a ban on ever mentioning the name, or showing the face, of proven X-Human Garbage. They do not even deserve an Obituary, erase all trace.

I would have to disagree. after the VT shooting, my parents kept talking about how they feel bad not only for the vicim's families, but the shooter's family.

also I just thought of this:
could this be upsetting me because I'm getting really close to high school (I just set up my 4 year plan, so I already know what classes I'll be doing for freshman and on, and it start's next school year) and that means I'm almost to the level of schooling where this stuff happens?