What a situation in the schools – and really, throughout the community – in the last two weeks.

Saturday, April 21, 2001

What a situation in the schools – and really, throughout the community – in the last two weeks. We were all concerned and saddened about the ever-evolving rumors that something terrible was going to happen at Southwest or the high school Friday.

How does something like this happen?

Well, we know what Dr. Dave Prescott and other school administrators think. All you have to do is read the first sentence of their statement to media about the situation:

&uot;The continued media attention of the Columbine tragedy has produced many rumors …&uot;

So there you go. Want to point a finger? You may point directly at the little box in the next column with my picture in it. It’s all the media’s fault.

This situation, along with the discussion of the school choir’s planned trip to England this summer, has made it hard for us to avoid the subject of the media’s role in fueling destructive attitudes and actions.

There are two ends to this spectrum, like any other. At one end, you’ve got the people who think the media gives everybody all the bad ideas they ever had, and share a lot of blame for mucking up society. At the other end, there are people who think the media are just the messenger – that they don’t set the agenda for society, but just reflect what society does, thinks or wants to talk about.

As with all spectra, the truth surely is somewhere in between.

Let’s look at the Columbine situation, leading into the rumors around these parts.

The Columbine tragedy was heavily covered nationwide, and still gets a lot of attention. Why? Because it was an event on par with the Oklahoma City bombing or the assassination of JFK. It changed people’s outlook on what’s going on in our country. It thrust school violence into the forefront of people’s minds – it was here, it was happening, and people were scared. In Oklahoma City, it was similar thing: It made us all realize that threats to our national security don’t have to come from invading armies, or even from outside the country. It altered our attitudes.

When events of such magnitude happen, the national media are all over it. But why shouldn’t they be? We’re talking about events that shatter our preconceived feelings of safety, that open our eyes to major problems. Does a healthy society deal with such problems by not talking about them? By leading the six-o’clock news with soccer results, lulling people into a false sense of security, in the name of not ‘sensationalizing’ news?

Of course, it can go too far. The folks in Littleton begged the media to go away and let them mourn last year; of course, there was no chance the camera crews. were going to pack up and go away.

And there’s no doubt that media attention is one way for people to get bad ideas, or to see how much attention others have gotten for committing bad acts.

So, did whoever started these rumors do it because of the media? Who knows. Chances are, especially with the Internet’s growth, most people would have realized that Friday was the Columbine anniversary, even if no newspaper or TV station had mentioned it.

And there’s no question about this: After the first mention of violence, the rumor mill took it from there. Even with no help from us, word-of-mouth distorted the rumors and spread them across the city.

Since it was just a rumor, and because we were aware of our possible role as fuelers of the fire, we decided last week not to cover all the talk until we had a solid story, and until after the school day in question. TV news stations found out about the story Thursday, but also decided to wait.

Sounds like media being responsible to me.

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I earlier mentioned the choir trip to England. Some people thought the choir came out of our coverage looking like villains. Well, let me clarify a couple things: First, the choir invited Kendall Langseth to come speak on foot-and-mouth disease and give them tips on precautions. Second, the choir isn’t the only group from Freeborn County going to Europe; I’m told a French class is going to France, too. And that doesn’t count people who are surely going to Europe for vacation or business. The choir isn’t breaking any new ground. And I, for one, am sure they’re going to be very careful.

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A quick note from &uot;Skateboard&uot; Stan Sevaldson. Stan asked me to mention that skateboarders in Albert Lea should take care not to skate in forbidden places, like much of downtown. With skaters so close to getting a dedicated skate park, Stan doesn’t want the kids to wreck things for themselves by breaking the rules now. Makes sense to me.

Dylan Belden is the Tribune’s managing editor. His column appears Sundays. E-mail him at dylan.belden@albertleatribune.com.