Junior high school student commits butane gas crime

A junior high school student committed a butane gas crime. On Tuesday, a 15-year-old boy surnamed Lee put butane gas to explosion at a classroom of a school in northern Seoul he’s been attending at, shot a video of it and posted it on YouTube. There was nobody in the classroom as students were out for a sports class. But the classroom windows were shattered into pieces and the wall was broken. “I wanted to act like Cho Seung-hui,” the student said. “I was going to lock in the hallway to gym and stab people running out of the classrooms.” Cho was a senior at Virginia Tech who committed mass murder on the campus and shot himself to death. Thank god Lee’s act ended in a delusion.

An alert alarm went on at the junior high school after the explosion but class continued as people thought it was malfunctioning and the school didn’t order students to evacuate. The security guards and teachers didn’t block outsiders from coming in even after the incident. Lee said he first was going to commit the crime at the school he moved to in Seocho District but changed his mind and chose this school due to weak surveillance and security systems. Just a year has passed since the Sewol ferry sank but schools’ safety systems and teachers’ safety consciousness haven’t changed.

Police said Lee was a good behaving student and had outstanding grades but failed to adjust after moving to the new school. Lee had a mental disorder and had psychological treatment. In June, he spilled oil in a bathroom at the new school and attempted putting fire with a flamethrower but in vain. Even then, his parents and teachers were not aware of Lee’s mental state. Placards are put up in school gates reading “Personality education together with family and school” but the reality at schools is gloomy.

Lee had posted a message on the video clip of the Columbine High School massacre and learned butane gas terror methods on the Internet. Just as a teenager joined terrorist group ISIS early this year, Lee appears to have exposed desire to get recognition by people in an anti-social way. There is huge gap between the nation’s education target to nurture dreams of students and the harsh reality that encourages fierce competition to enter college. Under these circumstances, students are becoming more anxious and the Internet environment is growing more harmful. More observation of students is necessary while personality tests should be strengthened to detect in advance and treat social maladjustments.