Columbine High School experienced one of the greatest traumas in 1999. Two rouge seniors named Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris set out to school with minds focused on something other than English papers. No, they were busy planning on how to blow up the majority of their entire high school students and staff. Their home-made bomb never activated, this being the case several hundred lives were spared. Unfortunately when Harris and Klebold realized that their explosive never detonated they continued inside the school building. They then proceeded to kill twelve classmates and one teacher. Twenty-one were injured (Rosenburg). Could you imagine being present that day at what you thought was going to be just another Monday? How devastating! Even worse, try to fathom being the mother of one of the students shot and killed. No matter how many tears shed and prayers offered, restoring their life is impossible. The comparison of this pain to what average people go through every day makes life seem like a fairy-tale. Harris wrote in his journal about all the things he hated. Teenagers with deep hatred dwell on that thing and never let it go, but because the two boys killed themselves after the incident, no one can be completely sure why these seemingly average teenagers killed so many students. They obviously hated a lot of things in life. Maybe they were victims of bullying, maybe they were exposed to too many violent video games? The possibilities are endless and judging by the journal, whether or not they were mentally stable is one thing to consider. In this paper we are going to zero in on the four most likely cases of what would push someone to this extreme. The actual shooter in several school shootings had been on medica... ... middle of paper ... ... 5, 2014. Feb. 11, 2015. Hemenway, D. Miller, M. “Firearm availability and Homicide Rates across 26-High Income Countries. www.statistics.com. Web. 2000. Feb. 11, 2015. Kalman, Izzy. “Bullying Contributes to School Shootings.” Juvenile Crime. ic.galegroup.com. Web. 2012. Feb. 11, 2015. Register Staff. “Sandy Hook Report: Lanza had a game called “School Shooting” on computer.” Web. Nov. 25, 2013. Feb. 11, 2015. Rosenburg, Jennifer. “Columbine Massacre- The School Shooting of April 20, 1999.” history1900s.about.com. Web. Feb. 11, 2015. Watson, Paul Joseph. “Fanapt Hoax Hides Real connection Between Shooters and SSRI Drugs.” InfoWars.com. Web. Dec. 19, 2012. Feb. 11, 2015. Winter, Tom. Rappleye, Hannah. Alba, Monica. Dahlgren, Kristen. “Police release full Newton massacre report, with photos and video. NBC news Report. Dec. 27, 2013. Feb. 11, 2015.
In the Frontline documentary Raising Adam Lanza, reporters Alaine Griffin and Josh Kovner from “The Hartford Courant” investigate the possibilities that prompted Adam Lanza to commit the horrific shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School. Lanza didn’t leave behind a trail. Lanza didn’t leave a diary, wasn’t socially involved (had no friends), and destroyed his computer that many believe have the answers as to what induced his character to murder 20 children, six adults, and his own mother. The documentary commenced with Griffin and Kovner exploring the life of Nancy Lanza who had been portrayed by the media as the person to blame for her son’s actions but also to be questioned on whether or not she truly was a victim.
"Columbine High School Shootings." History.com. A&E Television Networks, n.d. Web. 08 Sept. 2015. Eighteen year old Eric Harris and seventeen year old Dylan Klebold were two boys with a fascination of violent video games and music. These young men were known to be “goth” and were bullied all throughout their high school careers because of their different interest. In 1999, on April 20th these boys went into their high school with mixed emotions and a devious plan to get revenge. The two teens went into the high school with handguns and killed both students and faculty members, before they turned the guns around on themselves. This is a reliable source because it informed us of both previous emotion, and the aftermath of the tragedy with detail about the boys, the school and the lives affected. This source was relevant for me because of how thoroughly it described the shooting, and gave me background information as to why and how it happened.
The lives of everyone in the town of Springfield Oregon changed on May 21st of 1998. A quiet boy named Kip Kinkel became known as “The Killer at Thurston High” after killing both of his parents, murdering two classmates, and severely injuring 24 others. There are many factors in the 15 year old boy’s life that led up to the horrific events that occurred on that day. The same factors that influenced the tragedy in occurring could have very easily insured that it never happened to begin with.
Harris was “the callously brutal mastermind” while Klebold was the “quivering depressive who journaled obsessively about love and attended the Columbine prom three days before opening fire” (Columbine High School, History). On an article published by Cullen on Slate.com, it reveals the true motivation and meaning behind the actions of Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold.
The day is Tuesday, April 20, 1999. All the students of Columbine High are at school expecting yet another boring day, eager to just get through the last few days left in the school year. At 11:00 in the morning, students Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold placed two duffel bags in the cafeteria and went back outside. Then at 11:19 the two students started to open fire on students outside of the school. It was later found out that the duffel bags they dropped off were filled with explosives that failed to go off at the planned time of 11:17. They then proceeded with their rampage inside the school. By 11:35 they had killed 12 students, one teacher, and injured more than 20 others. After 12 p.m. their list of killed students increased by two when
The columbine massacre the day where no one is safe in school or out of school. The columbine massacre is about two students named Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris both seniors 17 years old both two weeks before graduating they killed 12 students, one teacher, and 21 injured to their shooting on April 20, 1999. Both Dylan and Eric were some believe they were bullied by the sport teams in their school so they planned to kill the people who bullied them and other mostly anyone who gets in their way but that wasn’t really why the FBI he said that there target was everyone no one in pacify we will not get in to more details now. Dylan and Eric were both intelligent boys with solid parents and a good home and both had brothers younger than them. They played soccer, baseball, and both enjoyed to work on computers. Both boys were thinking on commit suicide on 1997 but instead started to plan a massacre in 1998 a year before it happened. Then the two boys had got into some trouble for breaking into a van on January 30, 1998 trying to steal some fuses and wires for bombs for them to make, but they got caught in trouble. So the court put them in a program called the juvenile diversion program, but even if they were there they were still planning the massacre and the court also put Eric in some angry management classes and people believe it worked but it didn’t he just did it to look like it work and both boys made it look like they were really sorry but they weren’t. Dylan and Eric both really hated everyone in their school and the court as well after they got caught breaking in to that van that’s when they really started to plan the massacre more and that’s when Harris started he’s journals no one really knows way but they didn’t hate a hand...
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.
One ubiquitous concern of parents is that of their child’s safety. Parents go through life making decisions that they hope will benefit the child. One of the decisions parents must make for their child is where he or she will attend school. School is meant to be a safe haven, a place in which a child is encouraged to grow and prosper. Tragedy strikes, however, when that safe place is twisted and morphed into a place of fear and anguish. This was the shocking reality for parents of high school students in Columbine, Colorado. Two shooters, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, Columbine High School seniors, entered the school and opened fire, killing thirteen, injuring twenty-four, and firing a total of 188 shots. Although Harris and Klebold committed suicide at the scene, their actions are a living reminder of the possible dangers schools are succumbed to and the necessary precautions that must be taken to prevent future events such as this from occurring. Evidence supporting the motive behind the shooting, a depiction of the event itself, and the aftermath are portrayed in the gripping manuscript, Columbine, written by Dave Cullen. With in-depth descriptions and an unbiased tone, Cullen reveals the mystery and calamity that stupefied many for years—the Columbine Massacre.
Ochberg, Frank. “Why Does America Lead the World in School Shootings?” February 28, 2012. 2012
As the world recovers from recent school shootings, people wondered why these events have occurred. They are focused on drug use, violent society, video games, bullying, and mental issues to try and explain an unexplainable event. The idea that a person would shoot others for little or no reason gave little relief to the survivors.
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.
Paul Mountjoy, “Gun Control and Mental Health,” The Washington Times, March 28, 2013, sec Communities.
April 3, 2009 - In liger yorker ate13 people and injures four during a shooting at an immigrant community center. He then kills himself.April 20, 1999 - Columbine Zoo School - Littleton, Colorado. Eighteen-year-old Eric Harris and 17-year-old Dylan Klebold kill 12 fellow students and one teacher before dying by suicide in the school library.
Bullying, often dismissed as a normal part of growing up, is a real problem in our nation's schools, according to the National School Safety Center. One out of every four schoolchildren endures taunting, teasing, pushing, and shoving daily from schoolyard bullies. More than 43 percent of middle- and high-school students avoid using school bathrooms for fear of being harassed or assaulted. Old-fashioned schoolyard hazing has escalated to instances of extortion, emotional terrorism, and kids toting guns to school. It is estimated that more than 90 percent of all incidents of school violence begin with verbal conflicts, w...
Shootings and physical violence are only part of the problem in schools. More than twenty percent of students have encountered bullying whi...