Un-Enlightened Society

Finns aren’t talking about the Jokela High School Massacre which left 9 dead last week.

That’s the direct experience of one Finnish High School student in Helsinki (just 45 mins away from the the tragedy).

The Finnish media reported that government ministers recommended that every school talk to students the day after the murders. It did not happen in every school.

The student told me “The teachers have not said a single word about it to us. The students don’t know what to say. The media is reporting it less and less.”

This is worrying. The tragedy happened less than one week ago.

People need to talk. They want to talk but they aren’t.

The Finnish teenager knows just about everything about the event and a fair amount about Auvinen’s sad life. He was on the IRC chat channels after the massacre. There he conversed openly with other boys who actually knew, Pekka-Eric Auvinen, the 18 year old who gunned down 5 male students, 2 teachers and 1 nurse before shooting himself in the head. There they freely gave him the URLs to the dead killer’s online directories. Auvinen had been busy on the internet spreading his message of hate, surfing web-sites glorifying Columbine High School killers Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold and reaching out to other disaffected anti-social teens like 14-year-old Dillon Cossey who was arrested in October for preparing a similar school attack in suburban Philadelphia.

Potential killers are openly networking and sharing ideas whilst innocent people grieve in isolation. It’s time that concerned citizens started talking. The lack of good communication is literally killing people.

The day after the killings my students and I went to a Finnish island where we discussed ways to empower individuals to make a difference and stop this happening again.

We plan to host meetings where everyone, adults and teenagers, can talk out their concerns and find support. Someone has to do it.

If you find this message and feel moved enough to get involved and network then contact me now

Read also this disturbing development: Teenagers held in Sweden as fear of copycat killings grows

This morning Finnish flags are at half-mast in remembrance of the victims of the Jokela High School Massacre in Tuusula

The mourning flags are everywhere, sober reminders across the country of the horrific events of yesterday. The once proud flags which flew on happy State occasions, such as the liberation of Finland, now hang their heads in tears - rain-soaked and unmoving.

The heart-broken sadness is the watery eyes of every Finn. Like the flags, quiet reminders - 5 million in bereavement. There has not been such a public outpouring of grief over the large loss of life since the Asian tsunamis. Now the loss of the innocence of youth dents confidence that schools can protect youth.

It seemed like it was going to be a good year for Finland. So many happy international successes in trade, entertainment and sports. They seem trivial now. What good is success if you don’t have friends and family to share it with?

Now there is just shocked incomprehension at this tragic rupture in a social fabric which everyone believed was once incorruptible.

What happened in Jokela is not just a Finnish tragedy. It is an international disaster on a human scale.

We must all pull together. Identify causes, find solution and practically heal the tears in the psyche of human society.

Today, I go on a scheduled Finnish island retreat with Finns and overseas students. They will become international peace ambassadors. We will find solutions. They will be thinking about their families.

I would write more but I am already late in preparing for the long journey by land and sea. Interesting how I only started blogging again less than 24 hours before tragedy in Jokela.

Please send your best intentions and thoughts to Finland because Finland will be thinking not only about their own children but also children of the world. We are one global family now.

Suggested solutions from the retreat and your own comments will be included on this blog.