April 19, 2007

After Virginia Tech, writing instructors confront ethical choices - UPDATE

Prior to his shooting rampage at Virginia Tech Monday, Cho Seung-Hui was a creative writing student who had earlier been referred to the university's counseling center because of the disturbing content of his work. In the aftermath of the shooting, experts are suggesting that college students who turn in dark, tortured soul-searching fiction will most likely be sent to a counselor or interviewed by the police. Kimberly Lacey, Wayne State University graduate teaching instructor, wrote in a blog about the tenuous position creative writing teachers are now in because of Cho. "So, when does the personal essay/creative writing invite intervention? As the instructor - one who is presumably not properly trained in either crisis management or psychology - when and how do we question the individual? Writing is cathartic to some, tedious to most, and in this situation, perhaps it was a forecast," Lacey wrote.

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