Like many people, I followed the coverage of last Wednesday’s Jeep plant shootings. Last weekend, I saw an interview with shooter Myles Meyers’ sister on a local TV station, and was quite disappointed.
The woman was shaken over her brother’s death and gave condolences to the victims. But then she commented that although this was solely her brother’s fault, the plant could have done something to prevent the attack.
I have to ask this woman, “what could have been done?” because it sounds to me like she was placing partial blame on the plant. This kind of thing happens all too often after someone goes on such rampages. The media, the public and the guilty party’s family fail to properly give 100 percent of the blame to the perpetrator.
When Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold attacked Columbine High School, people blamed it on everything from video games to Marilyn Manson. Michael Moore even stooped so low as to blame it on the availability of guns in his disturbing film “Bowling for Columbine.” Only a few people acknowledged the high school environment in which they were taunted could make them depressed. The media focused some attention on their parents, and rightfully so. If the parents were not oblivious to what their kids were doing, they could have forced them to get help.
However, only Harris and Klebold deserved the blame. They were the ones upset and troubled, and they did not seek help. They were the ones who wrongfully thought gunning down classmates tand hen killing themselves were the only solutions to their depression.
The same can be said for Meyers. Supposedly, he was having problems with the three supervisors he intended to kill, and that was making him depressed. Meyers did not seek treatment, and if he did, this tragedy might have not happened. I do not know if Meyers considered quitting Jeep, but that was an option if he had tried to resolve these problems.
I do not understand why his sister said the Jeep plant could have prevented this, because Meyers was a grown man responsible for his own actions. Like Klebold and Harris, he believed killing himself and people who upset him was the only answer. Some Jeep plant employees said they knew Meyers was depressed, but he never seemed depressed to the point of suicide and murder. The employees can not be held accountable if they did not know what was going through Meyers’ head.
Even when Timothy McVeigh blew up the Federal Building, some people claimed being in the military caused him to be that violent. This used to upset me, because McVeigh and Terry Nichols planted that bomb on their own. They were also depressed, and they also failed to seek adequate help. Notice a pattern here?
If I had enough room in this column, I could list several other cases with the same storyline. Since I do not, I will leave it at these three and believe I’ve made my point. I know this is cliché, but I was raised to believe nothing is bigger than life itself. No problem in the world is worth your life or someone else’s life.
In regards to the student recently discovered to have a gun and alleged hit list, no matter what his intentions were, I want to thank the friend who took this student to the police division and got him necessary help. This friend took a proactive approach and prevented the student from harming himself or maybe someone else.
Lastly, I’d like to encourage any of my fellow students who may be depressed to do everything they can to help themselves. The Counseling Center is a good resource with professionals willing to help troubled students. Students can also talk to doctors at Student Health Services. Severe depression is not something people just wake up with one morning. It is often something that develops over time, and it is always better stop it in the early stages.
Send comments to Nicole at [email protected].
