The recent shootings at Virginia Tech were a horrible tragedy, but the question remains if the problem isn’t being addressed from the wrong end.

Much of what has been spoken about in the news is containing violent situations after they arise, instead of preventing them. The news stations have been talking to a lot of professionals about security at college campuses and how to act when a shooting is already occurring.

Granted, students shouldn’t have to fear accessing venues of learning and knowledge, but it is wrong to turn our college facilities into impenetrable fortresses and bunkers. In reality that is impossible. That is not a setting that condones learning.

If the core of the problem is students who apathetically gun down their peers, then containing such an event when it arises is already a failure.

Instead it is time to put a serious investment into student’s mental well being. Something that has been neglected is the fact that the shooters are victims too, victims who harm both themselves and their fellow students.

The focus shouldn’t be on putting these criminals down when they commit the deed of murder; it has to be intercepting the tragedies before they unfold.

The need for action shouldn’t have to be put in the hands of students improvising in situations of grave danger, barricading themselves to safety within the classrooms.

It was an act of great courage by Zach Petkewicz and his peers who helped him block the shooter, and within all probability he saved his classmates in doing so, but it shouldn’t have to come to that.

Ever since Columbine the authorities have been quick to point a finger at all sorts of reasons and scapegoats. Violent videogames and dangerous music and Hollywood movies. This is not saying one way or another if they are influences or not to these school shootings, but the facts remain the same.

Obviously we live in a society which raises individuals who cannot deal with their anger in a progressive way, and the end results are these horrifying acts of violence.

There aren’t any shortcuts for this problem. There is no cure-all-security-system that can be implemented. The issue is difficult to address because of its scope. The changes are going to come slowly, and they will come from within the community.

In the post-Sept. 11 America of today, we have to be careful about spreading the propaganda of fear. It shouldn’t be necessary to be afraid of going to college, or living on campus.

One point to take into consideration is the vast amount of media coverage the worst school-shooting in history gets.

The sheer information overflow builds a fear and paranoia that shouldn’t be an issue in our daily lives. It is important to critically assess the news and understand that being fearful of the dangers of society isn’t a means to an end.

We have to attack the problem of school-shootings closer to the root. Although we might not know all the answers, it is critical to address this terrifying issue at an earlier stage than when the campus becomes a site of murder.