School Violence 2
On Tuesday, April 20th, 1999, yet another small, suburban town joined the ranks of astonished communities to be touched by seemingly mindless violence. In Littleton, Colorado, at Columbine High School, 15 people were killed in the deadliest school rampage on record in the United States. Of the 15 dead, 2 were the murderers themselves, who apparently were on a suicide mission, and decided to take as many people with them as they could. According to an article entitled "Violence a Quick Answer" by Michelle Locke of the Associated Press in the April 22nd edition of The Stars and Stripes, the events at Columbine High School unfolded in a way that is becoming more and more familiar in rural and suburban areas throughout the United States. The obvious question to ask is "Why is this happening?". Unfortunately, social scientists and researchers all seem to point the finger at many different causes for this type of behavior. A lack of parental supervision, access to guns, parents who are too permissive or are absent, school officials who fail to do anything when warning signs are exhibited, and of course, kids growing up in a culture that is saturated with violence, all top the list. According to Bill Reisman,
The Stars and Stripes article goes on to say that the negative influences in society, namely violent movies and music, can certainly add "fuel to the fire", but that we can't blame these things, because people are responsible for what they do. Further more, lying under all the negative societal influence, is the fact that family and community ties are "unraveling". Bill Reisman says, "It used to be when I was a kid, if I did something wrong down the street, before I got home, that neighbor would have called my parents. These days, they're afraid they're going to get sued". Peter Blauvelt, president of the National Alliance for Safe Schools, says it's nearly impossible to find immediate answers to a tragedy like the recent shootings in Colorado. "I think one of the things we are suffering from is trying to rationalize what was really an irrational act". However, although there is limited empirical data to go on, psychologists have found some distinguishing characteristics of rural youth murderers from these types of events over the last year. These adolescents tend to: Have a history of social problems. The phenomenon of rejection contributes to their increased aggressiveness over time.ii In this latest school shooting, the gunmen apparently belonged to a group of outcasts who wore black trench coats, and spoke openly about owning guns, and their dislike of minorities and athletes. According to an MSNBC news article, classmates said that this incident was foreshadowed by several vi
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Approximate Word count = 1006
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
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