After tragedy, let us be kind
Re: Toronto mourns victims of ‘nightmare’ van attack, April 24. Human beings are unpredictable. The human mind is a universe in itself, and it has more hidden areas in it than the Grand Canyon. These sort of senseless attacks, unfortunately, cannot be fully prevented, or even completely understood.
This is not to say that police should not be exceptionally trained, as they were in Toronto, or that if it’s going to happen, then it’s just going to happen, but this inhumanity is part of the world we presently live in. Kindness is one of the strongest things in the world, and it is an extremely powerful tool that anyone can utilize. The more kindness in the world, the better.
Anne Marie D’Amico, one of the first victims to be named, lived a life of kindness. She died in such a tragic way, but her story, as well as other stories that will come out of this tragedy — stories of the victims and those who witnessed this devastating carnage — can have a teaching and far-reaching effect.
As Henry James wrote: “Three things in human life are important: the first is to be kind; the second is to be kind; and the third is to be kind.”
Douglas Cornish, Ottawa
Stop giving AttACkers so muCh puBliCity
News media are providing wallto-wall coverage of the Yonge Street massacre, often finishing a report with the question, why did it happen? Did it ever occur to them that they may be providing part of the answer by the extent of their coverage and the prominence they are providing the perpetrator, especially his identity?
Often these acts appear to be carried out by troubled young people, loners self-diagnosed as society’s rejects, denied public attention and affection. Is it so hard to imagine that, when they reach what they consider to be the end of their lives, they decide to end it all in an act, however hateful, that will at least finally bring them the public notice and recognition they’ve desperately wanted all their lives?
I am not suggesting the media avoid covering the story, but what if they refrained from identifying the perpetrator by name? They are obliged to report the incident in all its detail, but what if the perpetrator was not identified by name, at least for a month or so? No news value would be lost, only a bit of unessential detail. A great deal of the copycat desire to achieve notoriety would be lost.
We manage to survive living with the Youth Criminal Justice Act, which bans the public disclosure of the identity of young offenders but still permits public disclosure of their unlawful actions. Would waiting a month to name an adult perpetrator diminish the information value of the story?
Barry Donnelly, Ottawa
If only All poliCe were like him
What an exemplary display of coolness, courage and, above all, professionalism by Toronto police Const. Ken Lam in the arrest of the perpetrator of the Yonge Street massacre.
What a contrast with the actions of the four RCMP officers who confronted Robert Dziekanski at Vancouver International Airport in October 2007.
Dziekanski, newly arrived, alone, obviously unarmed but clearly agitated, was causing a disturbance at the exit of the international arrivals concourse. The officers claimed he made threatening gestures toward them (including brandishing a stapler), and Tasered him. He fell to the ground, writhing, and was Tasered three or four more times, then pinned down and handcuffed. He died at the scene. Thomas Frisch, Ottawa
DesperAte, pitiful young men need help
In response to the maniacal rampage in Toronto, it is clear that we are not doing enough to help our population of desperately unhappy, pitiful young men.
It is not enough to blame such men for their actions or call them monsters, then hope there will not be more attacks. There will. They will go to their deaths blaming us for not caring, not trying to understand or help them.
We have helped create such men and boys in our society by not helping them escape from their misery. I am sure that most of these men and boys have given signals for help many times. But few of us are presently aware of what these danger signals might be or what we can do.
We should be aware of these dangers as much as we all are now aware of bullying, sexual abuse, or drinking and driving. This danger should be taught in school, and explained in our media.
Whenever any of us have a failure of any kind that may occur in school, on the job or socially, this failure should be made known to parents, teachers, fellow workers, and/or priests.
We must do all we can to prevent another cruel, pathetic, senseless, cowardly attack. If not, we can expect to have more and more of these heinous, depraved murders in Canada.
Bruce Mullen, Ottawa
ClArifying the reCord on mAssACre’s toll
Some have been calling this the worst attack on Canadian soil. That is not true. In 1989, Marc Lépine killed 14 women and injured 10 women and four men at l’Ecole Polytechnique in Montreal.
I do not wish to diminish the horrible attack in Toronto, but to set the record straight. I offer my condolences to the victims and families of this terrible attack. Louise Power, Ottawa