do you think NBC did the right thing by showing the images of the Virginia Tech killer?

[bebop]

that is a tough one. I haven't voted yet. I think while it may be good to show it one time I don't think it should be shown time and again! I think people want to know what was in his mind at the time but please let's just not keep showing it!

[Direction]

I generally don't watch news - but this stuff is all over the place - I voted no - the picture was fine - but the video of him and the rest way over board...

Final thought - after how many people saw problems with this person - how did he slide through the cracks - maybe this will be a wake up call not for gun control, but for the population to better understand when someone needs some help.

[Rhapsody]

</font><blockquote><div id="quote"><font class="small">Quote:</font>
fayerody said:
do you think NBC did the right thing by showing the images of the Virginia Tech killer?

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I did not see it - so, are we talking about PICS of the after math or are we talking about
a PIC of his face.... as to see who he was?

[radio_flyer]

I voted Yes...

[bebop]

he had sent videos and pics to nbc and they aired them all

[Rhapsody]

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bebop said:
he had sent videos and pics to nbc and they aired them all

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You mean he sent pics of the scene? - after it was over and done with - oh NO!!!

[January]

No, Be, they didn't air them all. They used a very small fraction of what they received. They edited everything they showed because it was so vile.

There were rantings and ravings that he had amassed and written over several weeks. He mailed the package before he went to the Engineering Bldg. There were pics of him, a single spaced document that I "think" was twenty some pages long, (it might have been thirty some), and a video tape spouting his views.

Jan

[Rhapsody]

Ok - after reading Jan's post - I VOTED _ NO!!!

I personally feel that we do NOT need to see such horrific scenes in order to know what he did was wrong and will greatly effect the people left behind (students, family &amp; friends).... I personally feel that our society is so into SHOCK FACTORS that TV gives us that which our deepest darkest human desire craves at times... and just to keep us around for ratings.

[radio_flyer]

ooo ? they showed pictures/videos of the crime scene? I don't think the crime scenes should have been shown on TV.

But as far as showing images of the killer, I see no reason why the killer's picture should not be shown. I think we need to see the faces of these folks that do such horrible crimes.

I should have explained what they showed. I'm sorry.

There were images of him pointing guns straight at the camera and also pictures of him holding knives as if he were going to strike someone. They were very disturbing images and I can't imagine how the families felt seeing him in the poses. These were pictures that he took of himself and sent to NBC.

Disturbing and scary is how I would describe them for me. And disgusting and hurtful for the families, school, students, faculty, friends, etc. Very ugly.

[EJ711]

Hi Friends,

I worked for NBC one summer when I was in college in NYC.

They did not do anything before consulting authorities.

It was the repetitiveness of seeing the shooter's ranting repeatedly over the evening on a variety of stations that was eventually very disturbing.

I watched Nancy Grace part of the evening, and she said, "He went to the post office between shootings!" It is very bizarre and shocking.

I had a student in one of my classes last semester, and he had a bizarre recording on his phone at home, about pleast select the correct "magnet" to reach him. His behavior in class escalated to one day he threw a large paper soda cup with ice in it, across half the classroom. No one was hurt, but someone could have been. He also ran across the tops of chairs during another class.

I finally insisted the Dean talk to him about his conduct, which he did.

Because of that one experience I can really understand how teachers can see things that are "off" that other people can miss. Fortunately, in my case I was able to get the Dean to support me.

Hugs to everyone,

EJ

A friend just told me that some of the families are so upset over the images that they cancelled interviews and press conferences......

this is the link to the video. it is really, really bad......it is very graphic and his message is chilling. it is a video of him talking about what he's planning and why.

http://www.cnn.com/video/player/play....manifesto.cnn

[Wants2Fly]

I empathize with how the families of the slain must feel. I have mixed feelings about giving any publicity at all to a killer who craved this media attention.

On the other hand, the assassin is dead, so it's not as if he's on the loose, holed up somewhere watching TV, enjoying his notoriety.

This is news. It seems to me that NBC has done its best to behave ethically and not exploit the pix.

Thank goodness the photos weren't sent to Fox or self-posted on youtube or facebook.

[January]

Wants,

You have put in words what I could not.

Thank you.

Hugs,

Jan

[desperado]

hi Direction,

just my two cents........i think that our society has to reject the ideal that men cannot display their feelings (of sadness, alienation, depression, etc.) w/o being labelled as an efeminate male or a homosexual, etc. i believe that this was also a large factor in the Columbine massacre, as well.

i wrote an essay on this exact topic -- referencing Columbine & BFC too -- in my "Psych of Sex Roles" uni class, back in 2004. maybe i'll get the courage to post it.

this is a topic that i feel very strongly about. pls, let all people cry & (safely) express their feelings of sadness, depression, lonliness, etc. w/o any shame.

i bawled my eyes out a week ago tonight on a public bus for ~ 20 mins...............and now, i'm almost "glad" that i did.

how come it's acceptable to express laughter, joy, elation, contentment, etc., but NOT hurt, sadness, fear, depression, (etc.) (most of the time, espec for men)? i'll tell you why.........our gender "prescriptions" are messed up.....and ppl don't want to deal w/ sadness, etc..........

we are human. we cry. we hurt. we cry. we need to cry.

*** stepping off soapbox now ***

No, no, no, absolutely NOT. Why do they have to advertise everything? We don't need to see it. Why would we want to? What about the families who had a loved one killed?
That's terrible. I hate the news media, they're a bunch of freaking scum who use this kind of sensationalism for profit. It makes me sick.

My dismay over them showing the video is that the parents who saw it now know what their children saw just before they were killed. I, for one, would have an awfully hard time dealing with that if it happened to my daughters in that manner.

[moodyblu]

I thought they went a bit over the top on that coverage.
I don't care for things of that nature at all...due to my sensitivity. The "evening news" takes on a life of it's own though ...for ratings. I just turn it down or off if it bothers me.
Such a tragedy! My heart goes out to those families and friends!
D.

[Maven]

I agree with Wants, basically. I have mixed feelings. I think the reasons he gave for doing it (to get back at the rich, Christians, etc.) is B.S. He didn't target anyone specific; he just went around, killing random people.

I hate giving him the notoriety he wanted, even in death, but it's important to know that killers are out there, that they can be anyone, and it's important to get people help if they are likely to be dangerous. (As for evaluating someone as dangerous, I'm talking about people who have already shown themselves to be.)

he showed serious, serious signs in 2005 and no one took his instructor seriously.

[h0kie]

Hindsight is 20/20. It's always so easy to look back and see the things you should have caught. I did it for a long time after my husband had his "episode".

In my opinion, based on what I know at this point, the University did everything they could do. The professors referred him to counseling. Counseling recommended hospitalization. He was hospitalized.

[Wants2Fly]

Hindsight is 20/20 yes. However, I had a student who declared himself to be suicidal, and I phoned the counseling center while he was in my office. I said I had a young man who needed to talk with someone, and could someone see him right away.

The woman who answered the phone picked up right away that this was an immediate need and said, of course, there would be someone available to talk with him. Obviously, instructors are not phoning on a daily basis asking for help for a student, so the request was taken seriously.

I then said, in a casual way, that I would walk him over to make sure he found it. He was very silent, and even though I am not a gabber, I would make little comments about this and that to make sure he didn't slip away or change his mind. Tthere was no way I was picking up the newspaper the next day to read that he'd never gone to the counseling center and killed himself. He was from another culture, and I wasn't sure how resistant the culture might be to counseling, whether he was thinking clearly enough to follow through, so I made sure he got there.

At the end of the semester, he had pulled his grades up from D to B. He thanked me for sending him to the center, said that he'd been taught how to take written tests by his counselor because tests were oral in the schools from which he'd come, and he'd gotten over the break-up with his girlfriend. His counselor, by the way, was the director of the center, not any of the graduate student psychology counselors who help staff the center.

On another occasion, just last year, a student's uncle was kidnapped in a S.A. country. My A student suddenly was a mess who couldn't think straight or meet deadlines. Now, she was not self-destructive, but I did not know where the crisis counseling was on this campus, as I was a new arrival myself. So I said, "Let's find out together." I took her first to the office of an administrator I knew well to ask for directions. I then escorted her to the crisis counseling.

Students' respond so positively to these small acts of concern, it is almost embarrassing.

I don't see why it would have been so hard for any of the instructors who obviously saw trouble to have taken similar actions to find help for this young man. It does not have to be done as an order, "Get help or get off our campus." It can be expressed as a desire to help, which in my case, it simply was.

[h0kie]

The professor who received his writings contacted the police and student health to get him to go to counseling. The police talked with him and then took him to counseling at a mental health facility.

He was evaluated by professionals and after a stay, he was sent home.

The proper procedures were followed (to my knowledge) to try to get him help. Some people just cannot or won't be helped.