It is not always easy to predict when a
person is going to become violent, but is also true that in some cases there
are clear warnings. In the case of the Virginia Tech massacre, the warnings
were there, yet Virginia Tech’s response and treatment were not. Seung Hui
Cho’s medical history at the university was largely one of institutional
inaction, pervasive ignorance of the law, individual incompetence, and
bureaucratic indifference.
Cho was born in Korea on January 18, 1984. He
was the second child of Sung-Tae Cho and Hyang Im Cho. Their daughter, Sun
Kyung, was born three years earlier. As a child, Cho was frail. He developed
whooping cough and then pneumonia when he was nine months old. When he was
three, doctors diagnosed him with a hole in his heart; some medical records
refer to it as a heart murmur. At age
five doctors conducted cardiac tests to examine the heart. Those tests may have
included an echocardiograph or cardiac catherization and apparently had a
traumatic effect on the child. From that
point on he did not like to be touched. His parents describe him as being sick
a great deal of the time while growing up.
In 1992 when the Cho family emigrated from
South Korea to the United States none of the family spoke English and the
transition to their new life was not easy. It took the Cho children
approximately two years to learn to speak, read, and write English. During that
time both were teased, but Cho’s sister said she took it in stride. There
apparently is no record as to Cho’s reaction to this teasing.
Cho’s parents indicate that he was quiet and
gentle; they do not recall tantrums or angry outbursts. As a youngster he took
Tae Kwon Do, watched TV, and played video games. He reportedly liked basketball
and collected both figurines and remote controlled cars. Cho was a very shy
child and did not communicate much with his parents but when he did talk he
avoided discussing his feelings. Cho remained introspective and the fact that
he talked little with family members became an increasing concern to his
parents. His mother and sister worried that he was being bullied at school, but
he never mentioned it. According to the Review Panel Report, when interviewed,
Cho’s sister did know that when he walked down the hall a few students would
sometimes taunt him.
Throughout Cho’s elementary school years, his
lack of communication became more and more of a concern for the family. Mrs.
Cho, in particular, tried to socialize him by encouraging him to go to church,
but to no avail. In the end they decided to “let him be the way he is.”
In mid-1997, the Chos sought therapy for
their son at the Center for Multicultural Human Services (CMHS), a mental
health facility offering treatment and psychological evaluations to low-income,
immigrant families. His first counselor was not a good fit (the Review Panel
Report does not explain this point), so Cho began working with a specialist
trained in art therapy. Art therapy is used with young people who do not have
sufficient language or cognitive skills to utilize traditional spoken therapy.
Cho also saw a psychiatrist who diagnosed him
with social anxiety disorder. He continued to work with the mental health
specialists, but made next to no improvement.
Then came the Columbine shootings in April
1999. After that tragedy, Cho wrote a disturbing paper for his English class in
which he expressed thoughts of suicide and homicide and indicated he wanted to
repeat Columbine. The school contacted Cho’s parents and urged psychiatric
care.
Again, Cho was evaluated by the CMHS. The
psychiatric intern who evaluated him was an experienced child psychiatrist and
family counselor. (As good as the intern may have been, he or she--the Review
Panel Report does not specify whether the intern was a male or female--was not
an expert. An intern, by definition, works under someone’s supervision.) The
Cho family explained that they were facing something of a crisis, as their
daughter, the one person with whom Cho would communicate, was getting ready to
go away to college.
The doctor diagnosed Cho with selective
mutism* and major depression: single episode.
He prescribed the antidepressant Paroxetine 20 mg, which Cho took from June
1999 to July 2000. He did so well that the doctor stopped the medication,
feeling he was so improved that he no longer needed the antidepressant.
* The
Addendum, The Governor’s Review Panel Report, defines selective
mutism as an anxiety disorder characterized by a constant failure to speak. The
unwillingness to speak is based on painful shyness. Children with selective
mutism are usually inhibited, withdrawn, and have an obsessive fear of hearing their
own voices. They may show passive-aggressive, stubborn, and controlling traits.
Doctors are not clear about the relationship between autism and this disorder.
Major treatment for depression and selective mutism include psychotherapy and
anti-anxiety agents such as Selective Reuptake Inhibitors.
Cho entered high school in the Fall of 1999.
The teachers noted that he was shy, not verbally active, and that there was
practically no communication between Cho and his peers or teachers. The Review
Panel Report does not indicate how much, if any, communication there was about
Cho between his elementary school, middle school, and high school. When Cho
talked, he could barely be heard.
Furthermore, he did not speak in complete
sentences, but his grades were high and he was always punctual. The school
apparently noted no other unusual traits or behaviors. When a teacher asked him
if he would like help in communicating he reportedly nodded his head yes.
In high school Cho met with a guidance
counselor who asked him if he had ever received mental health care or special
education assistance at his previous schools. He reportedly indicated he had
not.
Cho was brought to the attention of the high
school’s Screening Committee in October of 2000. Federal law requires that
children with learning disabilities be given the opportunity to learn in the
least restrictive environment and to be mainstreamed in classrooms. Cho was
then given a series of tests to diagnose his problems and to guide the school
in preparing an Individualized Education Plan (IEP).
School representatives met with Cho’s parents
to learn more about their son. Mrs. Cho, in what was an ominous glimpse of what
was to come, expressed concern about her son’s future and how he would fare in
college given his poor social skills.
The Screening Committee decided that Cho was
eligible for the Special Education Program for Emotional Disabilities and
Speech and Language. The school developed an IEP for Cho that included
curriculum and classroom modifications: First, a modification for oral
presentations, and second, a modification for grading based on oral and group
participation. It was recommended that Cho receive language therapy, and he
did. Other modifications included allowing Cho to eat lunch alone and to
provide verbal responses in private rather than in front of the class where his
manner of speech and accent drew derogatory comments from his fellow
students. Cho’s grades were excellent.
In the eleventh grade, Cho’s weekly
counseling sessions at the mental health care center ended. He resisted further
sessions. Despite evidence of slight improvement and while his parents were not
happy over the termination, Cho was turning 18 and legally they could not make
him continue.
Cho’s high school grades were very high, he
finished school with a 3.52 in an honors program and his SAT scores were very
good. On that basis, he was accepted to Virginia Tech. His guidance counselor,
however, in talks with Cho and his family, strongly recommended that he go to a
smaller school where the transition to college life would be easier. But Cho’s
goal was Tech.
The counselor was apparently so concerned
about Cho that she made sure he had the name and contact information of a
school district resource that he could call if he encountered problems in
Blacksburg. There is no record that Cho ever sought this help while at Virginia
Tech. (To be continued)
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