Preventing School Shootings

Preventing Columbine Over the past decade, there has been a spike in school shootings, one the most infamous took place at Columbine High School. This shooting has been spoken about across the globe because of the brutal killings two high school students engaged in. The two students committed an act so horrifying it shocked the nation. This tragedy has been contemplated for almost twenty years. The Columbine High School shooting is one of the deadliest school shootings in history, but it's recently been brought into the public eye again for its possible prevention. April 20, 1999 is a day many will remember as one of the most disturbing days in American history. Eighteen years ago on that date, over 20 individuals were injured and 11 were
brutally murdered, 13 people died that day including the shooters. This day started as if it was just like any other for the Littleton Community in Colorado, except for Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold. These two students had been eagerly waiting for this date for over a year. Their plan was to kill as many of their fellow students as possible. Eric and Dylan wanted to get back at the students who had tormented them the past four years. They arrived at the school grounds at about 11:00 a.m. armed with guns, two twenty pound bombs, pipe bombs, and were wearing trench coats. Both of the twenty pound bombs were hidden in the cafeteria and were intended to detonate at 11:17 a.m., when the cafeteria is filled with hundreds of students. At 11:16 they ventured to the front of the building where the first victim was shot. As the two ran throughout their school hallways they were shooting everyone in sight, injuring most of them. At 11:30 a.m. after their bombs failed to detonate in the cafeteria, Dylan and Eric entered the library, where most of their victims were murdered. During their time in the library many were injured and brutally shot, mainly targeting the jocks who wore white hats everyday to school. At 11:36 a.m. the pair exit the library and run throughout the hallways looking for more victims. After this they return to the library where they die from self inflicting shots to the head. Eric Harris and Dylan Kelbold die at 12:08 p.m. ending the massacre at Columbine. Eric Harris and Dylan Kelbold were both raised in loving supportive families. Before high school no one could have predicted what they were capable of. Unlike Eric, Dylan had friends, people liked Dylan. Dylan was always trying to support Eric in everything he did. Eric was definitely the dominant one of the two, some have predicted that without Eric in his life, Dylan would have been normal. Without Dylan by his side, Eric would have never been able to pull off the shooting by himself, Dylan was the brains behind the planning. Nevertheless, they both took part in a horrific shooting. Over the past eighteen years journalists and criminal profilers have done extensive research on what caused these two boys to become so violent. Their mindsets couldn't have been changed on their own, something provoked them to snap. People don't just wake up one day and decide they are going to become a mass murderer, this process happens over time. The results show that what caused this massacre to happen was most liking was bullying, depression, or a club called the Trench Coat Mafia. During their time in high school these three aspects of their lives contributed to their rapid downfall. Bullying, the first, and most popular, cause of why the Columbine shooting occurred. Eric and Dylan were tormented through four years of high school, and their senior year they decided they had enough. Every day at school Eric and Dylan were picked on by the boys who wore white hats. The kids who wore white hats were all jocks, the hats were an essential part of their ensemble. Eric and Dylan were outcasts and were easy to mess with, no one would stick up for them, not even the teachers. “They got their fair share of being picked on. I could understand that they might have targeted some of the more popular kids.”-Bret Depression usually goes hand in hand with bullying, and that's true in this case. Both of the boys were very depressed and Eric's mind was very disturbed. In fact, Eric was on antidepressants, he had reported to his physiatrist he was having homicidal and suicidal thoughts. Instead of taking him off the medication they just gave him a different brand of antidepressants. Eric could have had an undiagnosed underlying psychiatric condition. As stated in Dylan's personal journal he was also having suicidal thoughts. He said his only options were committing suicide or going “NBK” with Eric. “NBK” stands for Natural Born Killers, a movie both of the boys admired. Overall Eric and Dylan both had their own issues, but when they joined forces their actions became catastrophic. A club Dylan and Eric were both members of was the Trench Coat Mafia. This group expressed disdain for racial minorities and athletes/ jocks. These students that they disliked openly were most of their victims, they also attacked bullies. The Trench Coat Mafia was made up of about a dozen juniors and seniors at Columbine High School, and everyday they wore their long black trench coats, which is what Eric and Dylan wore during the shooting. The community had known about this group but they never considered them a threat. After the shooting a student described them as “nerds, geeks, and dweebs trying to find someplace to fit in.” After the shooting at Columbine there were and still are, countless effects on how the tragedy has impacted the country and the world.
These effects are all trying to prevent another school shooting from happening. Over the years, police has researched and tried to come up with better school shooting policies. With the rate of shootings growing each year, the policies need to become more elaborate. In 1999, mass shootings weren't as popular as they are now so the policies weren't as advanced as they are now. Trending security in schools are active shooter response procedures and security systems. A very popular and effective school shooting system is “run, hide, fight.” It's fairly new and was created in 2012 by the Department of Homelands Security. The rules go as if you can't escape, you hide, if you can't hide and all else fails you fight. Normal school shooting procedures call for the teachers to lock the door and move students to where they can't be seen. But, if a shooter does break through the door, they should attempt to fight or run. There would be many more problems if students attempted to flee first. This procedure is recommended to schools by the
police. Ever since Columbine schools locking down and monitoring buildings has risen. Back in 1999 only five schools had security cameras, today 3/5 schools have security cameras installed. Cameras are an essential part of keeping a school, or any other building safe and secure. Very few schools in America have metal detectors in their schools. The metal detectors would make a huge difference in what kids can bring into a school environment. Schools have also tried having clear bags, but few use this type of system. “You should be safe at school. This should be a safe place.”- unidentified female The police in Littleton claim that the massacre at Columbine could not have been prevented. They said that they did everything they could do, which is a lie. Policemen said that no one could force children into committing a mass murder. Also, people like to blame gun control. They say if we had gun control this shooting wouldn't have happened, or any other shootings. Anyone who claims this shooting couldn't have been prevented is extremely wrong. A year before the shooting occurred, police officers in Littleton were investigating a few cases that Eric and Dylan were involved in.
Police found pipe bombs near Eric's house, he also had a violent website that those pipe bombs were linked to. After this, a search warrant for Eric's house was created but it was never issued. The police said there was no link between Eric and the pipe bombs. But, 60 minutes II gained the knowledge after a court battle that in fact, the police department knew more about the website than what they had previously stated. After this exposure the police department decided they were going to release the files from this case after there was backlash from victims families. On these files, from the website, Eric had threatened to blow up a number of individuals in the Denver area. Although the police released the files, families were angered because there were pages missing. Eric should have gone to jail for this incident. Another incident happened fifteen months before the shooting occurred Eric and Dylan broke into a car to steal electrical equipment. The police decided to let Dylan off free, but Eric would have to attend classes to try and help him get away from crime. At the end of his classes he had to write an essay explaining what he had learned, and if they changed him. Of course he lied in his essay so they wouldn't question him, and this knowledge was gained from his personal journal. Not only did the police make mistakes before the
shooting, they made them during the shooting. As soon as the first shots were fired there were hundreds on 911 calls requesting for police. Not five minutes after the calls six police units were on scene, but none entered the school. After the shooting had been going on for a while there were many police units and a SWAT team on sight, but they didn't enter the school. The outside library door was propped open and police listened but never entered the library, where most of the victims were. The shooting was over by noon, but the police didn't enter the school until about 3 p.m., during this time most of the victims bled out. After the police released this information, there was tons of angry parents, and survivors. One of the survivors, Richard Costaldo, who was put in a wheel chair after the shooting had a comment about the slow police response. He said, “It's kind of sad to think that it probably could have been prevented and it wasn't.” Another quote came from Brian Rohrbough, he is certain this shooting could have been prevented, he lost his only son Daniel that day. “He should be here today, he should absolutely be here today.” The police aren't the only people at blame for this massacre. The parents of Eric Harris and Dylan Kelbold could have prevented the shooting as well. Eric's parents had to of known about his bomb threats and his threats to fellow students. They could have watched him more closely, and tried to help him get out of this bad point in his life. Both Dylan and Eric's rooms were filled with weapons, if one of their parents would have entered their rooms they would immediately know something is wrong, but they never did. Eric and Dylan also both had personal journals where they shared their thoughts, and if a parent would have somehow gotten their hands on the journals this shooting would have never happened. The last way the parents could have stopped them is by watching their home movies they had created. If only the parents would have tried to be more involved in their children's lives, one of the largest school shootings could have been prevented. Within the years following Columbine people investigated the shooting, ultimately finding a prevention. Anything and everything should be done to prevent a massacre from happening. I believe that people should take it upon themselves to stop mass murders from occurring. Whether it be the police, parents, or students, someone should step up and be the hero. In the future, I hope individuals will use the proper techniques and procedures to aid in preventing deadly shootings.