Playing the blame game seems to be a typical response to a tragic event, especially tragedies involving school violence. Everyone wants to know where to point the finger.
The recent shooting of 15-year-old California high school student Lawrence King follows the same pattern.
Reports are flying about his personal life and habits, his friends, his grades and his home life.
An ABC news headline reads "Hate Crime for Shooting Cross Dressing Student," which sums up the majority opinion of the reason why King was shot.
The addition of "hate crime" to the charges the 14-year-old shooter is facing is due to King's alleged tendency to cross dress at school.
According to the ABC news article, "Prosecutors would not say why they filed a hate-crime enhancement with the attempted murder count, but several classmates said the 15-year-old victim, Lawrence King, sometimes wore makeup, high heels and other feminine attire."
Michael Sweney, a classmate of King's, was quoted as saying his cross dressing was "freaking the guys out."
According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, hate crimes in colleges and schools accounted for 12.2 percent of the 7,722 reported hate crimes in 2006. In Ohio alone, 300 hate crimes were reported in 2006.
Because of this high percentage, schools like Otterbein are finding ways to create safe discussion places about diversity and individual respect, in order to prevent situations like King's from happening.
One of the ways schools prevent hate crimes is to institute and support the development of programs that encourage safe discussions, like FreeZone at Otterbein.
FreeZone promotes discussion and understanding of issues facing the gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and questioning (GLBTQ) community. They also encourage allies, or supporters of the community, to get involved.
Robert Bildstein, freshman music education major, said he felt that school violence is less likely to occur at Otterbein because of diversity programs.
"As with anything, there's always a possibility of it [school violence], but with groups like FreeZone, it's less likely because there's more knowledge and more awareness going around. It's a safer environment," he said.
The group is interested in pushing awareness and providing support for those affected by GLBTQ issues.
"What we're going for is not as much lessening or preventing occurrences like that [King shooting] as much as making the people who are there for you visible," said sophomore Matt Langenhop.
The Otterbein Day of Silence, to be held April 24th, is dedicated to King this year. Students around campus will remain silent until 4 p.m. Then a "speak-out" will be held on the lawn of Towers.
"You don't change opinions by attacking them, but by discussing. It's a back and forth," said Langenhop. t&c;
