Comments on: Beyond Jokela.

By: Juha Tupasela

Juha Tupasela — Sun, 18 Nov 2007 17:54:19 +0000

I really appreciated your article, Kristian. I agree with Laura that the media has dealt with Jokela very badly. They have flooded us with the details of the crime and the perpatrator without really making an effort to really think about the wider significance of what happened. I feel like they have just reached for the nearest cliches and have recycled the same story over and over again. I don’t think the “quality” media has done much better than the tabloids in this respect. Anyway, thank you for a much more responsible treatment of the tragedy.

By: Joe McVeigh

Joe McVeigh — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 23:47:59 +0000

Great article, Kristian. You really handled the subject maturely, being an outsider on the inside. Maybe that’s why you were able to look at what could, or should, happen now so well. Whatever the reason, I appreciate the article. And I’m right there with you on all the points. As a fellow foreigner, allow me to share some of my thoughts with you.
Because I’m an American, someone might say that I’m used to these kinds of things. I may have seen my share, as you have, but how do you get used to it? I’m not sure what the normal emotional response to these things is, but every time something like this happens, I find myself angry at the person who committed it. I think, what gives them the right to take someone’s life? Selfishness comes in many forms but I believe murder trumps them all. Any idiot can do that.
Whatever message Auvinen intended to convey to us by committing such a vain act is lost on me. I think, however, he did teach us a whole lot about humanity, albeit inadvertently and most likely the opposite of what he had in mind. From my understanding, the shooter himself was the only person whose life could have been saved that day. And isn’t that exactly what doctors and nurses tried to do? Because isn’t that their job, no matter what? Such poignant irony like that does not come along very often. Knowing that humanity can be so kind is soothing, but finding out in such a way is too painful to recognize.
On that note, I would just like to recall the most profound thing I have ever known about mass killings. In 2006, a man went into an Amish schoolhouse in Pennsylvania and killed five girls ages 7-13. What’s profound about this is that, when asked about their feelings, the Amish community replied with forgiveness for the shooter. The fathers of the slain girls even went to the parents of the murderer and asked how they could help. To me, the fortitude in that is unfathomable.

By: Laura Ruokola

Laura Ruokola — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 23:14:36 +0000

This is a very good article, Kristian. I try to avoid reading articles about the shooting, as many of them seem to be focusing on trivial things and turning the whole thing into entertainment. Knowing two kids that go to the school in question and – thankfully – survived the shooting, I get nothing but more pointless pain from knowing who died at which corner. All that is irrelevant. Your article, however, treats the tragedy realistically and with respect, focusing on what it is that can and should be done now. Thank you for writing this!

By: Simo Ahava

Simo Ahava — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 20:21:13 +0000

Very good post, Kristian. The comparisons you draw are horrific but striking as well. I guess when a nation is hurt so suddenly and so seemingly randomly, there’s always the danger of taking security measures that are deemed appropriate but which in reality only cover the problem itself under layers and layers of press coverage and speculation.

It’s easy to discard Jokela as a random event. Sure, it was that. But if you shift the spotlight into Finnish high schools and teenagers with problems, you’ll find a very large background of isolated children and youth struggling with loneliness and feelings that have found now entirely new channels to vent through.

Auvinen was a huge fan of organisations that idolise school shooters. I guess he got quite an incentive for his act by getting encouragement from other sick people. Where once you could turn to help from schools, parents and friends, you now can turn to the Internet, which hosts a plethora of forums and discussion sites that can either help you with your problem or aggravate you to do something as horrible as Auvinen did.

I direct you all to read an article by Terho Pursiainen in Helsingin Sanomat Vieraskynä-column. I’m sorry I can’t remember the exact date, but if I remember correctly it was 9th or 10th of November. He berates the class-free high school system that Finland has and says that youth are in danger of becoming more and more alienated, and where school used to be there to help the youth, no such peer support exists today.

If something good could come out of this terrible tragedy, I hope it will be that schools will take better care of their pupils to ensure that they are not cast out of “normal” social networks (ie. In Real Life) to prevent this type of tragedies from happening again.

But, unfortunately, that’s just schools covered, and sick, twisted people bent on causing harm and devastation to all can probably be found in every social class, regardless of age, employment or wealth.