NIU gunman's essays portray feelings of alienation
By Associated Press
April 19, 2008
DEKALB, Ill. - Graduate school application essays written by a man who fatally shot five students and wounded 18 other people in a Northern Illinois University classroom before committing suicide portray a young person who felt profoundly lost.click
In four essays the Chicago Tribune obtained from the University of Illinois and NIU, Steven Kazmierczak discussed feeling alienated and his parents' decision to send him to a group home.
"For as long as I can remember, I have always been an extremely sensitive individual and feel as though I am able to empathize with other people's emotional and social needs," Kazmierczak wrote. "However, some of my peers were not very understanding or accepting, and I feel as though I was victimized to a certain degree during my adolescent years."
=====
COMMENTARY: One's heart aches for the torment of this young man. Such anguish and at such a young age. The confusion and uncertainty of youth can be so harsh, and the disdain of one's peers can be so hurtful. The thing to do is give him guns. Arm him to the teeth and send him off to college to find himself.
In France, he might become an artist on the Left Bank.
In Britain, he might become a poet writing of hills and valleys and lost love.
In Canada, he might become a Newfoundland bar patron.
In the U.S.A., he's a mass murderer. Aren't we enjoying our children. Won't they be so much cuter as they get more and more guns?
No comments:
Post a Comment