School shootings has become an epidemic in America. It is a contagion with little to no explanation of why they are happening. There are often trends that relate to school shootings, for instance when one occurs and has mass media coverage, it is more likely that more will occur within the following two weeks (Smart). School shootings fit into a pattern and are becoming infectious, terrifying the families and students of the country. The modern phenomenon is becoming increasingly alarming and is an issue that needs immediate attention. The country needs to work together to prevent school shootings- lessening media coverage, monitoring the psychology of potential students, preventing the copycat method and the contagion, and schools working together to observe for potential signs of danger. Media coverage plays a major roll in school shootings. After the shooting occurs, different news stations rush to release the latest news, often getting facts wrong and releasing the names of …show more content…
By finding characteristics or traits they all have, some believe it will be easier to categorize them and stop the problem before it’s too late. While many believe this method is the most efficient way of finding potential shooters, this is very ineffective. Those who commit the crimes do not seem to fit a stereotype. The most common image these shooters have is they come from a violent and neglectful home- which is the opposite of true. These people come from any and all backgrounds, whether their homes were loving and supportive or violent and neglectful. Often there is an image surrounding shooters that they have been brutally abused by the world or want to brutally abuse the world themselves. While all of this evidence is true in many instances, there is no real correlation. Shooters not always play violent games or listen to vulgar music or are depressed or angry or have malicious
Most of us learned when we were very young that we should not judge by appearances. But, in the aftermath of massacres in schools everywhere, a sane person has to take seriously what the material world shows - and pass judgment. After all, a lack of judgment and subsequent action may lead to further youth violence.
The history of school shootings has shown an increase in mass school shooting. The very first known school shooting in the United States occurred on July 26, 1764 in present-day Greencastle, Pennsylvania. As part of the Pontiac's Rebellion, four Lenape Native Americans entered the school house and started shooting, killing the schoolmaster Enoch Brown and about nine students. Only two students survived the massacre (“History”). Since the 1700s the United States society has changed in many ways. Schools have become more than just one room school houses and each grade has its own teacher. Furthermore, the problem of school shootings has not decreased but rather increased over the years. On the one hand, reports from the Centers for Disease Control showed that in general school violence decreased from 1992 to 200...
In the United States there has been, “372 mass shootings in the US in 2015, killing 475 people and wounding 1,870” (BBC). Some recent shootings in the United States, for instance are Sandy Hook, Antigo high school in Wisconsin where there was one death and two injured, Madison high school in Ohio where 4 kids under the age of 15 were shot and injured, etc. One shooting in particular that will be focused on is
School shootings seemed like a new phenomenon, but they occurred for the majority of American history. The first school shooting occurred On July 26, 1764, when a Lenape Indian shot and killed nine children and the school master of the Greencastle, Pennsylvania school (Galvin): as noted in Appendix A. Since 1764, the number of school shootings rose exponentially. In the 1990’s, eighty-six school shootings occurred and between 2000 and 2014, 110 shootings transpired since 2000 (Killam,2008). The development of semiautomatic weapons lead to an increase in deaths. A study conducted in 1990 found through the years of 1986 to 1990; 71 people died, 201 wounded, and 242 people held hostage by school shooters(Galvin). While the area a school serves as one factor in the number of violent acts committed per year, school shootings have not been connected to this. The schools in Chicago dealt with more violent acts, but Sandy Hook Elementary, a small city school had relatively few violent acts committed by students.
It is a sad time in American history when one can easily recount recent school shootings in their own area. This ease stems from a sharp increase in the number of firearms brought into elementary and middle schools across the country, with an intense focus on the issue beginning after the shooting of 20 children from Sandy Hook Elementary in Connecticut. Most school shooters are male, white, and often upper middle class. They are also more, often than not, under some type of mental stress that is causing them to create this type of violence in our communities. In fact, many school shooters are never suspected of doing any harm to their peers and teachers until it is much too late.
There have been many horror stories in the news about mass shootings at schools. The public, and even the president of the United States, is asking if anything can be done to prevent these tragedies. There are many theories on why students kill their peers at schools; these range from increased violence in video games and movies to bullying troubles at school. Almost always, the perpetrator suffers from some form of mental illness (Khadaroo). Because of this, motives for these crimes are extremely difficult to discern. Although the theories for the causes of this dilemma are tenuous at best, the effects are very perceptible. Can anything be done to prevent these massacres? School shootings are a complex problem that cannot always be prevented, but there are a number of actions we can take to reduce the frequency and extent of the damage caused. These actions include placing more restrictions on firearms, creating detection programs for shooters, hiring more counselors for unstable students, and placing guards or police in schools. School shootings are a serious problem, and a solution is needed in order to prevent these calamities.
From 1980’s till now, there are has been many school shootings. Many researchers have made many hypotheses as to why these occur. The most tragic shooting took place in Sandy Hook Elementary. 2. I believe that we should prevent shootings from happening in schools because schools are meant to be a safe education environment for students and faculty. There are many ways that school shootings can be prevented and the two most important ones are hiring more school security officers and having counselors help out troubled kids.
School shootings are the leading death by a fire arm in the United States. What motivates these people to want to kill others? Acts of violence at schools is not a new thing. School shootings date back to the 18th century. However, school shootings are growing more common in this day in age. What motivates these people to want to kill others? With social networks more and more people are being bullied, which results in more kids snapping and shooting up their school. Bullying isn’t the only reason for school shooting, now smart kids are snapping under the pressure of unrealistic standards set for them by their honors teachers. In high school teens get the choice to take honors classes, or regular classes. The biggest difference in these classes
In order to solve the problem of violence in schools, we must first find out who the problem is. Being that not every teenager is prone to participate in such violent acts as what happened at Columbine, there must be specific environment imposed on a particular biology to turn a teenager into an Eric Harris or a Dylan Klebold. These are not normal, healthy teenagers, and they don’t just become killers overnight. They become killers because they are already deeply disturbed individuals who can be sent over the edge by all sorts of innocuous influences. Violent teens often have specific characteristics that put them at high risk for committing these crimes. These high risked students may display some of the following traits. First, violent students often indicate their intentions before acting violently through drawings or writings. (Juhnke et. Al., 1999) They also make threats of violence towards others. Next, students prone to violent behavior tend to have a history of violence or aggression. (Juhnke et. Al., 1999) This may include other students, boyfriends/girlfriends, and animals. Violent students often have hypersensitivity toward criticism. (Juhnke et. Al., 1999) These students report perceptions of being teased, harassed or being picked on by those they were violent toward. This tormenting can also cause a student to isolate him or herself and withdrawal from friends and family, which is another sign that something is wrong. Another fairly obvious characteristic includes those children who are inappropriately given accress to firearms. (Juhnke et. Al., 1999) When students are given a gun, it gives them a sense of power. Some choose to take advantage of that power, as we have seen in numerous high school shoot...
Crime in the 21st century has evolved from what it was in the past. One major crime that has been occurring more and more are public school shootings. A school shooting is an incident in which gun violence occurs at a school. School shootings have occurred since the early 1760’s but lately there have been an abundant amount of them happening. This crime not only puts people’s lives in danger, but it also takes a toll on the people that went through it. There have been more than 40 plus shootings throughout America, which will continue to increase, alone from the time span of 2000 to 2014 (present.) Now schools throughout the country are going over what they are going to do in a crisis situation. Recently there has been many school shootings which have raised awareness. Schools are frequently modifying and improving the things that they do to make things safer. It is a crime that has been take...
My subtopic was gun violence in schools “school shootings.” There have been many schools shooting and most of them had many innocent people dying because of one or two people who had committed these horrible crimes. There are many things that should be done to help innocent people from getting hurt and prevent this from happening again. One thing that should happen is to put guns away or just getting rid of them. People get guns many different ways as you may already know. Sometimes we would just want guns to vanish and everyone one to have peace in the world. Gun violence in schools occurs around the world not only in the United States. The news inform us about the many other countries that are attacked and children or students that have been killed because of terroirs groups. People aren’t safe now days in places that we should believe schools are safe. Many parents are nervous sending their children to school because of the different stories they hear about on the news and from others.
There are many different types of school violence. The one that gets the most public attention is school shootings. The term school shooting is basically defined as an act where a student, school staff member, or intruder from the outside commits an act on the school campus. One of the most well known school shootings took place at Columbine High School near Littleton, Colorado. On a Tuesday April 20,1999, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, students at Columbine High School, took the lives of thirteen other students before taking the lives of their own. When we think of events like this, we have many questions that go through our mind. Thoughts like why did this happen, could it have been prevented, and how did impact the individuals involved just to name a few. There are probably several more thoughts that go through the minds of a nation when we hear about traumatic evens such as a school shooting.
School shootings have been a part of America’s history since 1700’s when four Lenape Indians went into a school in Greencastle, Pa., and killed the teacher and up to as many as 10 children (Epstein, 2012). Since that day school shootings have become almost a regular occurrence. This school year alone, we have already reached eleven shootings (Hefling, 2014). Perhaps, an even more stunning number, since the Sandy Hook shooting in December 2012, just fourteen months ago, America has had an appalling 44 school shootings, totaling a horrific 28 deaths, in just fourteen months (Dimon, 2014). Since that day in December, about 1,500 state gun...
“The more energy they have to gin up to execute their plan, the harder it will be to do so” (Newman). When “Would be shooters” are faced with a challenge they most likely don’t go through with their plan. The dedicated shooters are those who intend on finding guns and shooting people, those who have the drive. “Totally dedicated shooters” are the type of people who wont give up whether the guns are accessible to them legally or illegally. Dedicated shooters have a plan of action and intend on going through with it. These types of people likely suffer from mental illnesses. “The abnormally high level of school shootings in America is not solely a gun issue a mental health issue, or a media issue, but rather a problem caused by a combination of mental illness problems, social inequality, gun control policies, and the structure of schools”(Gupta, 2016). Structural inequalities in the United States cause stress, which lead people to turn to radical measures. Factors such as economic change, racism and social changes cause constraints on behavior. Mental health is also a leading factor to school shootings. “Metzl and MacLeish’s research shows that up to 60 percent of mass shootings in the United States since 1970 involved shooters displaying symptoms of mental illnesses—including paranoia, depression, and delusions—and the evidence suggests that
60% of school shootings in the US happen in small towns. Research on earlier shootings showed the attack is on a school because that is the center stage in a small town, where the shooter can affect the entire community. School shootings are far more frequent in America than in other countries. Although school shootings seem to be on the rise, school is still considered one of the safest places. In 2012 out of all youth homicides, less than 2% occur at school, and this percentage has been stable for the past decade. In 2010, there were about 828,000 nonfatal injuries at school among students 12 to 18 years old. Deaths resulting from schoo...