U.S.: College suspends Iraq vet for frank paper about killing urges
- lesson An Iraq War vet in college writes an English paper, frankly saying that how war gave him an addiction to killing and violent urges. He had previously only written privately about the war.
- grade The teacher, who encouraged him to write about the subject, gave him an A and told him that he should get it printed in the school paper. It was printed a couple of weeks ago.
- reaction Weeks after the paper was written, at the urging of other veterans on campus concerned about what he wrote, he was kicked out of school until he got a psychological evaluation. source
- » Two conflicting cultural problems: What’s going on here is a bit of culture conflict. First, Charles Whittington takes medication and has received counseling on his issues. While in the paper he said that killing “is something that I do not just want but something I really need so I can feel like myself,” it’s clear that he’s trying to make an effort to move on. Meanwhile, his school, the Community College of Baltimore County in Catonsville, Md., is trying to prevent another Virginia Tech-style shooting. We feel that Whittington’s frankness is a clear signifier that those days are behind him – or at least he’s willing to try. (Thanks to pitusimz for the suggestion)