February 8th: Female student shoots two fellow students to death before ultimately killing herself at Louisiana Technical College in Baton Rouge.

February 11th: 17-year-old student shoots and critically wounds a fellow student during high school gym period in Memphis, TN.

February 12th: 14-year-old boy shoots a classmate, 15, at junior high school in Oxnard, CA. The victim is declared brain dead.

These three shootings preceded the most recent school tragedy to take America by the heartstrings. February 14th, 2008 will not go down in history as just another Valentine’s Day: instead, it will be remembered as the day of another fatal college campus massacre, this time, at Northern Illinois University.

Six people, including gunman Steven P. Kazmierczak, were shot to death, with 14 more shot and wounded. The gunman appeared from behind a curtain in a geology class minutes before the period ended and began to open fire.

It was less than a year ago that the Virginia Tech massacre (the deadliest ever at a U.S. school) happened; 33 students and faculty members died, and 20 more were wounded.

According to reports by CNN and Yahoo News, Kazmierczak was dubbed an outstanding student, celebrated by his peers and teachers. Whereas the Virginia Tech shooter described his motives and anger in a horrifying video and was classified as mentally ill, Kazmierczak simply showed no warning signs; he won awards and excelled in school (although new reports now say he recently came off of medication and exhibited “erratic behavior” in the last two weeks).

As I read the coverage of this latest tragedy, so many questions flood my mind, and I don’t know where to begin.

How much is too much? As young adults, our moods and personalities fluctuate all the time, especially with the aid of various medications. When is there a reason to worry–when does a seemingly average mood swing turn into something more, something fatal?

Maybe it’s an issue of school security. Maybe schools should start incorporating metal detectors and an airport-esque security process. Or maybe background checks on the mental stability of each student should be run. Maybe the focus should be on prevention? As the New York City subways say, “If you see something, say something.”

Are all of these shootings reflective of the scary access U.S. citizens have to guns, or the mental states of certain members of the population? Is there an outside influence in the media, with images of violence in the news, video games and movies affecting some people too much?

I attend a very small private college in a secure Manhattan neighborhood–and I’m still shaken up about going to school. I can only imagine what it’s like to attend a large college with an actual campus. But I don’t know or understand the root of my fear–why are these shootings happening?

I want to be able to point the finger at someone or something, to know what’s causing this. We have to determine the cause before we can come up with a solution. Right?

What are your thoughts on this matter? What is going on with America and school shootings?

To all the victims and families affected by all of the recent shootings, our thoughts and prayers here at College Candy are with all of you.