I really think you are right when you claim that people in Finland don't realize that this wasn't just an act of single, sick, attention seeking individual.

For example in famous Pisa-study which compares school systems in Europe, Finland has always got good marks. Yes, in all other areas, except how comfortable students feel at school. (Here the conservative, bureaucratic reply often is that "school is not the place to have fun, but to learn.") However, it is a fact that many of the young students think that the school atmosphere is depressing and everyone knows that bullying is a growing problem.

The terrible event in Jokela should not lead to unnecesary overreactions, but it should still make us see the reality at today's schools.

Piia-Noora, Oulu, Finland

why people never search information enaf before they write article like that.

PS. sorry my bad english, but its sunday morning and i wake up 30 minutes go.

kalle, lahti, Finland

My compliments to the author of this article.
I feel deeply sorry for the families of the victims, and that includes the family of Pekka-Eric Auvinen.
It’s very sad whenever such an event occurs. It questions deeply our actual way of life. This has nothing to do with the specificity of any particular country, but rather with the pressure that modern life put’s upon every person, particularly children and adolescents.
The first news I had access to reported that this boy had been bullied…unfortunately this is a growing phenomenon amongst our children and youths, and we adults aren’t always attentive to their signs of despair. For what has been written on the press, this boy "sort of" cried out for help – the youtube clip was just that, and maybe there were many other appeals that nobody could interpret as such.
This kind of problem is universal and has more to do with the actual individual and interaction psychology than to cultural aspects. Finland has the means to deal with this

L.M., Lisboa, Portugal

Great article Aki.

In today's day and age, no one can guarantee this won't happen in any school, shopping mall, airport or anywhere really..

These are the times we live in. No nation or person has any guarantee.

E Zam, Melbourne, Australia

I don't agree on that "finns are shy", but maybe it is because I tend to gather people around me who are not shy. Of course there is a mislead also in a way a Finn acts in a social situation. They often don't babble and foreigners might consider it as a shyness.

But I liked your article, it was pleasant to read. Finland is not a paradise and we have our flaws but yet there is much to be proud of.

Mari, Helsinki, Finland

Thank you,
tinally some common sense.

Helena Mathys, Hameenlinna, Finland

Finally a Finnish word about this tragedy! Mr. Boyes should learn something about this article.
This article does not make so many short conclusions while it does make many questions as a real debate should do..
Some politicians in Finland (still in parliament) in the early '90 cut down financings of the school system. There was a school psychologist in every school while nowadays it's very hard to find such support for the young finns. Some psychologist said this tragedy was expected because of the political line followed in Finland resently..
And these same politicians two days ago were crying after hearing about this tragedy.. did any of you ask if it was a little bit your fault?
Now, I think it really is time to debate about this kind of problems but let’s do it with education and with knowledge!

Mari Kristiina Medici, Bologna, Italy

For a person who has grown up during the war, worked as a journalsit in places of armed conflicts the reactions are a bit overdriven. And the Jokela High School case had more to do with the very new Internet society, its odd ways to get populist attention, than with any particular national society. Is that not utterly clear?
Finland was changed by two wars and their aftermath. Now ir is beeing changed by its rising living standards, with all the problems of the modern world. But saying the place will never be the same after a school shooting is about as exagerated as the shooting itself.

Penjussi, Copenhagen, Denmark

For a person who has grown up in Finland during the wars, seen as a journalist scenes of armed conflicts, some of the reaction to the event in Finland seem as exagerated as the shooting itself. It was also rather tied to the new Internet society and to its occasionally odd and twisted ways to get publicity. It is difficult to see how it would change the country. It is beeing changed by its rising living standards and all the problems of moder society, very much the same in a number of suburban and urban communities. Its old isolation is in fact disappearing today.

Penjussi, Copenhagen, Denmark

Dear Aki,

In talking about the handguns, you should have stressed even more strongly that we talk about rifles and shotguns. They are not at all that questionable things to own as a Sig Sauer-type hand gun. What do you need that kind of a gun for? Gun clubs should have those guns in their ownership. Then some gun fanatics like mr. Auvinen could go and "rent" it but not to own it
Guns and army ? Mr. Riihilahti, if you ever did your military service and had ak-47 as your first girlfriend you should know that the real thing is far better. A typical Finnish man after shooting those thousand shots in the wild and possibly even testing a bazooka, doesn't worship guns the Texan way . He's had his share.
Alcoholism? Alcohol is not a problem when it comes to massacres. Drugs do. In Finland, we don't have those crazy people wandering around the streets like in U.K.
Finns shy? Are Japanese shy? Sometimes, not to talk, that's a way to show your respect. Talking is silver, silence is gold

Markus "the Ukko", Oulu, Finland

Good work, Aki!
Actually The Times has had better quality coverage on the tragedy than the Finnish press.

M

Mikko, Helsinki,