Campus violence came to Arkansas last night with a shooting at University of Central Arkansas in Conway.

We live in a society in which anger is directed toward educational institutions. We see it in vandalism at schools. We also see it at these shootings that have become a world-wide phenomenon. It would make sense to begin to question why. Are these just random events caused by minds and emotions run astray? Or is campus violence indicative of other things?

Our culture through video games, television and our own foreign policy reinforces the idea that problems are to be solved through application of force. Easy access to guns and the portrayal of guns in video and television as objects of fantasy put our whole culture at risk of violence... and our own children at risk of death and injury.

If we make the decision that school violence is just random then we have chosen our own powerlessness. If we view these events as the result of something we can control, we should be asking serious questions about what to do next.