Tuesday afternoon I watched television and was almost numb with the news of the tragedy in Littleton, Colo. I admit to being somewhat desensitized to murders, war and the like, but this one really bothered me.

Perhaps it was the large loss of life, but the more I thought about it, I realized it was what probably led up to this event that bothers me.

Think back to high school, and I’m certain most of us can remember a classmate who could fit the description of the two killers in Littleton.

They were the stereotypical quiet type — not the high school norm, and they probably got picked on. Growing up, I was sort of a quiet guy. I wasn’t plotting a mass murder, I was just quiet. I didn’t fit into the upper echelon in junior high, and I wanted in.

At my school, the road to popularity was through athletics. I started playing basketball in seventh grade, which led to basketball, track and cross-country in high school. I was fortunate I had the talent to make it at my school, and after some time, I felt I had cracked into the “social elite.”

This group of people in the “social elite,” for the most part, were a great bunch of people. Some had amazing athletic ability, others great mental prowess, and a few of the fortunate ones had both. The tragic flaw of this group was their tendency to pick on those different from them. I did more of this than I care to admit.

I realized this was wrong and tried to change my ways. I’m still working on it.

I don’t claim to know what made these young men in Littleton snap. I suspect it’s a more complicated situation than any of us can imagine.

Hearing that they may have targeted “jocks” in their killing spree reminded me of my experience in high school. Perhaps they had been teased by the athletic/social elite for their beliefs, the way they dressed, etc. Something pushed them over the edge.

In my first year of college, I have learned that people are going to be who they are going to be. Simple as that. High school and life are tough enough without someone harassing you for who you are.

I wrote this to call for an end to attacks on others because you never know how much a comment or a joke can hurt.

This isn’t hard; it just means being nice, or at least civil, to others. No picking on “that black kid,” or “the Mexican,” or “the dumb kid” or the person who didn’t come straight from the pages of an Abercrombie and Fitch catalog.

I played that game, and it’s not worth it. Too many people get hurt, and it can lead to far worse things.

People are different. Let them be different, and be nice about it.

Dan McCracken

Freshman

Chemical engineering