...Eric Davis Harris and Dylan Bennet Klebold went into the Columbine High School in Littleton Colorado, and went on a rampage killing spree leaving 12 students and 1 teacher dead and over 20 people injured before killing themselves. This crime is known as one of the most deadliest school massacres in the United States history (Pittaro). On the day of the massacre, previously to the attack both Erick D. Harris and Dylan B. Klebold placed small fire bombs in a field three miles away from the Columbine High School and another one a couple of miles away from the fire station. They had set the bombs to explode at 11:14 to distract all emergency personnel away from the school. The two boys then headed to the school...
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...How would you feel if someone you love so dearly went to school one day, a place you thought was safe, and never came back? Well, this happened to many. One day the parents of children sent their children to school and never got to say, “goodbye” or “I love you”. Most likely regretting everything they had done or said to their loved one the day before, or what they did not tell them. Although the Columbine High School Shooting was a tragic event in history, society has benefitted by bringing about school security, practicing evacuation procedures during school, and brought awareness to the issue of gun control. The Columbine High School Shooting was a tragic event within United States history that occurred on April 20, 1999. The traumatizing...
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...School Shootings When I think of school shootings my mind immediately goes back to the Columbine High school shooting. This was the first school shooting that I was actually old enough to remember and understand. I still remember having a moment of silence for all of those involved. The New world encyclopedia states “Columbine High School shooting was one of the deadliest mass shootings in United States history. On April 20, 1999, two teenagers killed 13 people and wounded more than 20 at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado. The incident drew worldwide attention. It led to widespread discussion over gun control and the prevention of school violence.” (Funk & Wagnalls) According to Wikipedia from 2011 to 2015 there has been 99 school shootings including grade schools, high schools, and colleges. This is a problem that needs more national attention in my opinion in order for there to be some form of change. The killers in school shootings (mass shootings) are what we call mass murderers, they typically want to send a message. It was stated the two students in Columbine sought revenge on bullies; this shooting/bombing was meant to send the message to them. According to a few articles I read they define their personalities as, “pseudocommando” these individuals kill in public during the daytime, plan their offense well in advance, and come prepared with arsenal of weapons, very similar to that of the school shooting killers. (Knoll) According to Warnick, the children...
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...Dr. Luciano English 1301-169 October 9, 2013 Going Out in Flames Imagine this, you're in class at school and you hear what you think is firecrackers. All of the sudden your teacher comes running in the room and is telling everyone to hide under their desk and not to make a sound. That is what happened to hundreds of students at Columbine High School in Colorado. The two boys killed 12 students, 1 teacher and injured 21 others. Even though 34 people were physically affected by the boys, many others were emotionally effected. The Columbine Shooting on April 20, 1999, brought forth many issues that needed to be handled; school safety and anti-bullying were the first things brought forth by the police. According to the New York Times, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold had planned this attack a year in advance. The two watched over the cafeteria crowds to determine the best time for their attack. “The bottom line of this thing is they wanted to do as much damage as they could possibly do, and destroy the school and destroy as many children as they could, and go out in flames,” Sheriff Stone said. On April 20, Adolf Hitler’s birthday, the two students made history for the deadliest school shooting ever recorded. In total, there were 15 deaths including Harris and Klebold, with an additional 21 injured. They had an assortment of guns and bombs, which included a propane tank bomb, which made investigators believe they had help. Even though there were no additional suspects, detectives...
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...been cases of school shootings. In particular the Columbine High School Shooting and Virginia Tech Massacre were both influenced by violent video games. In the Columbine High School shooting, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold shot and killed thirteen people and then killed themselves. At Virginia Tech, Seung-Hui Cho shot and killed thirty-three people, including himself, and injured twenty-three others (School 1). Violent video games played a major role in these school shootings because the games were tools used to practice there plan and give them the ideas for the weapons they would use and how they would use them. Harris and Klebold attended Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado. When the two teens had planned the attack it was intended for propane tanks to detonate that they left in the cafeteria in duffle bags. “According to the report released by the Jefferson County Sheriffs Office, the tanks contained sufficient explosives power to ‘kill the majority of students’ who would be in the cafeteria for lunch” (Columbine 1). The tanks did not discharge as the boys anticipated. When they came back to the school they soon realized things were not going the way Miller 2 they wanted so they pulled out there guns. The two boys went on a rampage, taunting students and killing without any hesitation. Similar to the Columbine Shooting, Cho...
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...“Bowling for Columbine” Film Analysis On April 20, 1999, many people’s lives drastically changed. An incident that occurred in Littleton, Colorado created a jaw dropping event that disrupted all of America. It also stopped Michael Moore right in his tracks. Not long after the incident, Michael Moore decided to make a documentary called “Bowling for Columbine,” a film that acknowledged many important points that are usually ignored and overlooked. This documentary focused on a school shooting that never should have happened. This tragic incident lead Moore to ponder many questions and create an extremely interesting documentary. Michael Moore has been in the film industry for quite some time. He’s created numerous documentaries that have received a large amount of public attention. He is also a filmmaker, author and political activist that not only knows how to work a camera, but also an audience (Deming). In his documentary “Bowling for Columbine”, Moore uses facts, interviews, and personal stories to really get the viewers undivided attention. He also uses multiple statistics to prove his points throughout the documentary. In 2002, Moore won an Oscar for the Best Documentary Film for “Bowling for Columbine” (Ecksel 1). This film not only touched the hearts of many Americans, but also created an argument for several businesses and associations that were involved. On April 20, 1999, the halls of Columbine High School changed forever. Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris altered...
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...is beginning to take shape. Eric Harris and a friend known as “Vulcan” or “V” intend to commit an act so violent that it will secure their place in history. The following is an expert from Harris’s Journal, mastermind behind the Columbine Shooting: “Sometime in April next year, me and “V” will get revenge, kick natural selection up a few notches. If we’ve learned anything about the art of making pipe bombs, we’ll set hundreds of them around roads, bridges, buildings, and gas stations; anything that will cause damage and chaos. It will be like the L.A. riots, Oklahoma City bombings, WWII, Vietnam, Duke and Doom all mixed together. I want to leave a lasting impression on the world.” One year later on April the 20th 1999, Eric Harris and another Columbine student, Dylan Klebold, committed the worst High School massacre in American history. They killed twelve students and one teacher; injured twenty three others and then turned the guns on themselves (Avila, 2000). Immediately following the mass shootings, media, sociologists and criminologists set about the difficult task of discovering the motives of the killers and answering the question of whether or not problems within society allowed this to happen. As early as the day after the shootings, blame had been pointed at gun availability (Etheridge 1999). The subject remains controversial today. FBI psychologists concluded in 1999 that the shooters were respectively “the depressive and the psychopath” (Cullen 2004). There...
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...developed after people are exposed to a horrific or life-threatening experience. Symptoms of PTSD may appear immediately or it may appear years later. Even though they may not be present for the traumatic event, family members and significant others such as spouses can be affected indirectly and can also develop certain behaviors. PTSD is commonly characterized by flashbacks and recurrent dreams; sudden irritability and outbursts toward another person without any obvious or known reasons; and restlessness or difficulty sleeping and concentrating. (Neeb, page 169) Traumatic experiences such as witnessing the death of a loved one, being sexually abused or assaulted, being exposed to a war, and being involved in a devastating accident can all cause PTSD. The likelihood of a person developing PTSD is based on the intensity of the trauma. According to the National Institute of Health, once PTSD has developed, women are more prone to experience chronic symptoms of this disorder compared to men. PTSD not only affects the person directly involved in the traumatic situation, but it can also affect people indirectly through exposure to a devastating event. I have recently experienced a very traumatic situation that had caused some early signs of PTSD. My cousin, John, was recently murdered in the comfort of his own home. His wife found him dead after returning from work one evening. Originally we were told by investigators that he was killed during an in home robbery. When I first heard...
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...other day. All of a sudden, two of your classmates walk in with guns, shooting you and your fellow peers. The idea might sound far off, but that is what happened at the Columbine High School shooting on April 20, 1999. According to a school safety timeline, “Eric Harris, 18, and Dylan Klebold, 17, go on a shooting rampage and kill 12 students and one teacher, wound 23 others and then kill themselves” (School Safety Timeline). Weapons were not allowed at the high school, but that did not stop the students. However, there is a large debate going on about whether or not teachers and college students should be allowed to carry concealed weapons on school grounds for self-defense. If teachers and university...
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...The purpose of this study is to investigate the subject school shooting, and in this connection the paper’s jumping-off point is the school shooting that took place at Columbine high school in Colorado, 1999. Among many things the study includes a declaration of the story line of Columbine high school massacre, and after that and analysis of the article “A Call to Arms: Renewing America”, who is originally a speech by J.C. Watts. There have also been given some possible causes for why such episodes as school shooting find places by means of different articles. And at the end there are given some examples of what people can do to prevent such tragedies to happen again. Because this study works with the subject, English and Germany which are humanistic subjects there are used some methods that belongs in that category, for instance there have been used Bloom’s taxonomy – statement, analysis and discussion, but it is also humanistic because the study contains an analysis of a literary article. The results of my study show that many different reasons can have influence to why young people commit school violence. J.C. Watts make it clear in his speech that it is wrong to blame the guns for crimes that derives from the human heart, but instead he blames the society and that the parents do not give their children enough love and solicitude during the upbringing. Other articles point out other aspects that may play a certain roll in this connection – such as the mentality and the media...
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...why the alleged suspects could have turned to such violence and no one else has offered any evidence based explanation for it. If this is the case, then why is Obama now labeling them as being terrorists when he himself warned against the judging too quick? The only explanation for this situation can lead one to think of is the suspects’ identification as being ethnic Chechens and Muslims. There is no evidence that they acted in relation to the events that happened in their ancestral background. Obama appears to be going on a prejudiced assumption that is very common on television. These are unfair assumptions and they close the possibility of full understanding the cause. By bringing up these popular stereotypes, they give a new push to the...
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...America, We Have A Problem We have a problem, America. People versus people. People killing people. Yet, somehow, America’s governing bodies simply send their prayers, send their love, and get on with their day. People are dying. Columbine, Parkland, Sandy Hook, and many more were all symptoms of a bigger, crippling sickness. Michael Moore, a filmmaker and long–time NRA member, uses a series of rhetorical techniques to confront pro-gun advocates about the right to bear arms and to demonstrate why there should be several restrictions on what that right entails. Moore successfully addresses the flaws in the Second Amendment and the impact that these flaws have on American society in his documentary, Bowling for Columbine. In the first handful...
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...Youth Violence Ever since the horrible tragedy at Columbine High School, there has been a number of recent school shootings in America. Youth violence is a main issue in today’s society. Many people fear what causes youngsters to be so violent, committing atrocious. There are many wonders that go around about why young adolescents commit such violent crimes. These questions vary from why kids take guns to school, or how do we know if they are putting others in danger, what signs are there, what should be looked at, and what can be done to stop these acts of violence. I remember watching the MTV special “Warning Signs”; it explained the violence in our society today. In the video they talked with young adolescents and asked them questions dealing with crimes they have been institutionalized for. The video also explained warning signs of someone who may be planning to commit an act of violence. Study has shown that anger plays a major role in ones behavior problem. Aggression is any form of behavior intended to harm or injure another living being. There are many reasons why someone acts in an aggressive way. First, many people have an instinct of being aggressive towards certain individuals, second genes are another factor that can develop from a complex interaction of biology, social experience, and each individuals behavior, t... The potential influence of violent video games on youth violence remains an issue of concern for psychologists, policymakers...
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...Adolescent Bullying: Is it the Cause of School Violence? In the last fifteen years there have been numerous school shootings within the United States mostly occurring in the 1990’s. Although there have been many variables as to why, a common denominator in most shootings has been bullying. The shootings in Mississippi, Kentucky, Arkansas, Pennsylvania, and Colorado are just a few examples of the violence that left many dead and many more wounded. Bullying is considered to many to be a rite of passage. In some occasions it is common, such as college fraternity hazing. “Bullying is typically defined as aggressive peer-to-peer behavior in which (1) there is an intention to harm or disturb the victim; (2) the aggression occurs repeatedly over time; and (3) there is an imbalance of power, with a more powerful person or group attacking a less powerful one” (Elias, Zins 46). Bullying tends to occur between the 6th grade and 10th grade. What is astonishing is that 75% of children have admitted to being bullying at some point of their lives during the school years. Victims of bullying tend to be quiet, sensitive, withdrawn, have low self-esteem, poor social skills, and feelings of being rejected. “Between 1992 and 2001, 35 incidents occurred in which students showed up at their school or at a school-sponsored event and started firing at the schoolmates and teachers. These incidents, represented most starkly by the incident at Columbine High School, in Littleton, Colorado, left 53...
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...Youth violence in America is an ongoing discussion that has been in the news for quite some time now. Kids are so easily influenced that it is normal to see them in some type of negativity. This matter causes children in our society to engage into violent crimes in school and in their communities. Some say the reason for this is because lack of attention in the homes or parents just not being available for their children. Are these reasonable excuses and why do our kids act in such violent behavior? For many years we try to get our youth involved into extra-curricular activities to stay out of troubles. Sports teams, educational activities, and tutorials can keep children busy when they are not in school. Many factors are mentioned when the media discuss youth violence including: video game interaction, trouble in our schools, and dysfunctional communities. Parents should be aware of signs that their child can be in danger of either committing a crime or being a victim. Something should be done to convince the kids that trouble is so easy to get into but so hard to get out of. The research will continue to grow in the upcoming years to investigate the youth violence and to find ways to keep our children out of trouble. During the teenage years of a child’s life, they are exposed to quite some violence in the media. The main source is video games. Every child loves to play these fast-paced games that contains three-dimensional graphics. The parents do not know if they are safe...
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