| Editor's Corner Over a cup of tea |
| The Virginia Tech tragedy brings a lot of thoughts and feelings about our youth and their health -- physical/mental/spiritual -- our families, our schools, our communities, and our society. My heart grieves and mourns with the victims and their families. The healing process would take a very long time, but for some, it may not even come. We have to look deeper into ourselves and our society, ask questions and demand answers. What will drive a person to commit such a heinous act of killing 32 people and wounding several others? The shooter, Seung-Hui Cho, had so much hatred in his heart that grew gradually until it exploded. He was a "loner" who probably did not experience what love is all about. Did anyone extend a truly helping hand to him? I wonder. While he had previously manifested "strange" actions in and out of the classroom, such as taking photos of his female classmates with his phone camera under his desk and stalking women, nothing concrete was done about such complaints. He was mentally ill when, in 2005, a court judged Cho an "imminent danger to himself." What came out of that judgment was clear: nothing! The background check by the gun store that sold one of the guns used by Cho did not even reveal this court ruling. Guns in this society are like toys; they can be purchased easily. School security systems likewise need some examination. Freedom is good; but as this case showed, its price was the blood of innocent people whose lives were cut short needlessly. ************************* "I cannot change the world but I can change myself." -- A saying I looked back at my youth and thought of how family values shaped the way I look at the world and treat others. We were poor, but my mom taught me that poverty is temporary for people who have the will to succeed. Early on, she exposed me to wholesome activities and entertainment that honed my abilities. She was a disciplinarian in a soft way, but she was always there for me, engaging me to talk about what's happening in school, my problems, etc. The church was a refuge where I learned humility and love of people other than my family. High school was stressful because I was "expected" to maintain the honors' list every grading period. I had a few "terror" teachers and unfriendly classmates. But they didn't deter me from pursuing my goal and having fun. I participated in school plays, the school band, the school paper, and all kinds of competitions. In that school, one didn't have to be wealthy in the pockets to join; just wealthy in enthusiasm and commitment to do extracurricular work. I was not exposed to violence in my youth, maybe because we didn't have TV at home or because I and my younger siblings were too busy with homework or house work, or maybe we were just lucky. My high school was also very proccupied with education-related and value-formation stuff. I was already in college when I started to watch Western movies and TV shows of "questionable propriety," in my mom's own words. All in all, I must admit I felt loved and cared for, in and outside my home. My kids, however, were born during the '70s when video games, movies, and TV shows disregarded boundaries of decency and respect for human life. In Manila, as in many parts of the world, crime rose as guns proliferated, drug addicts roamed street corners, school security and counselors became lax, and families disintegrated. Life was hard, forcing both parents of most families to work the whole day to make both ends meet. This situation is similar here in the U.S. This is a society where opportunity is equated with work and productivity; and "success," with wealth and power. The truth is, it is even harder to cope here when you throw "discrimination" and "racial profiling" in the mix. I knew, then and now, that our youth are affected greatly by their environment. As part of that environment, I hope to be able to share the love in my heart with as many youths as I can encounter in my lifetime. It's time to look deeper into ourselves and make some changes. Who knows, together, we might, after all, change this part of the world. |
| Looking deeper |
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| Heidi M. Pascual* Publisher & Editor * 2006 Journalist of the Year for the State of Wisconsin (U.S.-SBA) |
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