The Line between Distant and Dangerous

The tragic school shooting in Chardon, Ohio probably left you with the same gaping hole in your gut as it did mine. My first knowledge of the shooting came through a prayer request on twitter. I instantly Googled the name of the town and watched the internet newscast, praying that it was not as bad as had been reported.

But then came the reports of medevac’d victims…the pictures of the traumatized students …the panicked parents desperately texting their children and the overwhelming sense that a little more of this generation’s innocence had been stolen.  The emergency vehicles and swarming police presence were comforting and unnerving simultaneously.

Throughout the day I checked the news reports and tonight I watched a couple of broadcasts about the incident. One of the commentators made a comment that really caught my attention. In describing the young man who allegedly did the shooting, she mentioned that he had withdrawn from friends…that he had become distant.

Then she asked something like this, “When did he cross the line from being distant to becoming dangerous?” I think this is a valid question but this question is the kind you ask at the end of a tragedy. It made me want to know what we should be asking before we get here…before it is national news.

Here is what I have so far. I do not mean any of this as an excuse for the young man’s actions today. There may be reasons but there is no excuse. I simply share these questions with the idea of perhaps preempting other senseless tragedies.

• What does it mean to be distant and how does a 17-year-old find himself there?
• Does being distant always mean you withdraw from others or does being pushed away or ignored count?
• Is being bullied at school a valid reason for withdrawing from peers?
• Should Christians or even just simply morally virtuous teens defend those who suffer at the hands of others? Even if it means suffering the same fate?
• Are our youth group’s cliques just the reflection of our school’s sub-cultures under the shadow of a steeple?
• Do we as youth leaders model for our students love for the unlovely?
• What three “at risk” students can we target to show love and genuine concern?
• How can we motivate our students to reach out to the TJ’s of this world before they become national news?
• How can we become a part of the Jr High or Sr High school campus intervention team?

A myriad of details will come to light over the next few days about this event. Already it has been mentioned that TJ comes from a divorced home, his dad is in jail.

In a week the news media will move on to the next crisis. . . But we should NOT. This is not an “event crisis”: it is a “need crisis.”  It deals with students whose greatest need is hope.

* Photo Credit: Reuters/WKYC Cleveland