That Degrassi School Shooting Episode
Yes, I realize that I am roughly fifteen years late on this one.
I am someone who knows kind of a creepy amount about certain true crime things. I'm not one of those freaky Columbiners who wants to fuck Dylan Klebold, but I know a lot about Columbine.
(I also know that Columbine is not the only school shooting ever to exist, but it is inarguably one of the most infamous so let me be.)
I also knew, going into Degrassi, that at some point, that freak who put Terri in a coma comes along and paralyzes Drake. This was not something that completely blindsided me. But as an American in 2018, even though I am lucky enough to live in a state with relatively low gun violence, and virtually zero mass shootings on record (North Dakota is one of four; the other three are Wyoming, Hawaii, and New Hampshire), I am sure that I reacted to this episode a lot differently than Canadians in 2004. Even Americans in 2004--sure, Columbine was about five years ago, but Virginia Tech hadn't happened yet. Sandy Hook hadn't happened yet. A lot of the major names that we throw around today hadn't happened yet.
And it's terrible, but at the end of the episode, through my tears, I let out kind of a big sigh of relief and a, "Oh good. Only two." And neither of them are dead. (Except Rick. Rick is dead.) Granted, at the end of the episode we don't know if Jimmy's going to make it or not, but as people in 2018 we know about 'Wheelchair Jimmy.'
And there were scenes that, even though I have personally, thank God, never been in a mass shooting situation, or even really the threat of one, made me wonder what these kids were doing. Why their lockdown policy was crap--these kids are just wandering around in their classroom with their door locked. People can see they're in there.
And then I remembered: 2004. Canada.
Rick, as a character, is textbook. He's a loner. He's picked on. He has a history of violence. And while it pissed me off, the biggest thing that I think is still relevant today in America is how Principal Radditch dealt with Rick's bullying thing. If you haven't seen the episode, he did, to put it simply, absolutely nothing. Now, I don't think that every school shooting would be solved and done away with if schools were suddenly bully-free zones. But this TV-style shooting? This specific incident? Rick came to Radditch for help, and Radditch brushed him off. And while Rick is a terrible human, this is one (thankfully, fake) tragedy that could've been avoided.
I am someone who knows kind of a creepy amount about certain true crime things. I'm not one of those freaky Columbiners who wants to fuck Dylan Klebold, but I know a lot about Columbine.
(I also know that Columbine is not the only school shooting ever to exist, but it is inarguably one of the most infamous so let me be.)
I also knew, going into Degrassi, that at some point, that freak who put Terri in a coma comes along and paralyzes Drake. This was not something that completely blindsided me. But as an American in 2018, even though I am lucky enough to live in a state with relatively low gun violence, and virtually zero mass shootings on record (North Dakota is one of four; the other three are Wyoming, Hawaii, and New Hampshire), I am sure that I reacted to this episode a lot differently than Canadians in 2004. Even Americans in 2004--sure, Columbine was about five years ago, but Virginia Tech hadn't happened yet. Sandy Hook hadn't happened yet. A lot of the major names that we throw around today hadn't happened yet.
And it's terrible, but at the end of the episode, through my tears, I let out kind of a big sigh of relief and a, "Oh good. Only two." And neither of them are dead. (Except Rick. Rick is dead.) Granted, at the end of the episode we don't know if Jimmy's going to make it or not, but as people in 2018 we know about 'Wheelchair Jimmy.'
And there were scenes that, even though I have personally, thank God, never been in a mass shooting situation, or even really the threat of one, made me wonder what these kids were doing. Why their lockdown policy was crap--these kids are just wandering around in their classroom with their door locked. People can see they're in there.
And then I remembered: 2004. Canada.
Rick, as a character, is textbook. He's a loner. He's picked on. He has a history of violence. And while it pissed me off, the biggest thing that I think is still relevant today in America is how Principal Radditch dealt with Rick's bullying thing. If you haven't seen the episode, he did, to put it simply, absolutely nothing. Now, I don't think that every school shooting would be solved and done away with if schools were suddenly bully-free zones. But this TV-style shooting? This specific incident? Rick came to Radditch for help, and Radditch brushed him off. And while Rick is a terrible human, this is one (thankfully, fake) tragedy that could've been avoided.
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