The author of The Columbine Legacy Rampage Shootings as Political Acts has stated numerous purposes within this article. The first purpose of it was to explain about the events of Columbine and attempt to show the reader how this has created a large impact resulting in more wide spread school shootings taking place. With this the author tries to convey to the reader particular characteristics that differentiate a school rampage shooting from a wide range of other school related incidents where violence was a factor. The author also attempts to show the reader types of school related shootings that have taken place before Columbine happened and even specific events which would have led to a shooting but were uncovered before it escalated that…
In October 1997, I heard on the radio that Luke Woodham, a sixteenyear-old, had killed two classmates and wounded seven others in a school shooting in Pearl, Mississippi. In a note, Luke declared: “I am not insane. I am angry. I killed because people like me are mistreated every day.”1 He explained that he was tired of being called a “faggot”; he was additionally enraged that his girlfriend—whom he killed in the shooting—had broken up with him. At the start of the Woodham case, I began examining school shootings. Two months after the massacre in Mississippi came a shooting in Kentucky, then one in Arkansas that same month, and then another in Arkansas three months later in March 1998. There was a shooting in Pennsylvania that April, in Tennessee…
“It is a very tragic day for us in virginia. My reaction was just shock. My first thought was just how tragic this was for the university” - Virginia Gov. Timothy M. Kaine. It was tragic day for the friends and families of the victims. Virginia tech massacre is a tragic event that in history and has impacted many people.…
April 20, 1999, Littleton, Colorado, Columbine High School, thirteen killed. August 1, 1966, Austin, Texas, University of Texas, fourteen killed. December 14, 2012, Newtown, Connecticut, Sandy Hook Elementary, twentysix killed. April 16, 2007, Blacksburg, Virginia, Virginia Tech, thirtythree killed. May 18, 1927, Bath Township, Michigan, Bath High School, fortyfive…
It has been thought that those who would commit such horrendous crimes would suffer from some sort of mental illness, however Granovetter’s model proves otherwise. In Malcolm Gladwell’s article “Thresholds of Violence” he uses the story of a young man named John LaDue, who was a quiet and loving kid that one day plotted to set off a bomb at his own high school. “I have good parents. I live in a good town,” says LaDue. He was never diagnosed with any type of mental illness and did not have typical symptoms of a school killer. Granovetter’s theory offers us an explanation as to why such a normal kid would commit to such a terrible act. The theory states that a person who normally wouldn’t do something belligerent, such as a rioter, is more likely to do it because they saw someone do the same thing first. Gladwell uses this theory to convince readers that this is why school shootings have become more common. “A riot was a social process, in which people did things in reaction to and in combination with those around them.” Granovetter claims that this theory could describe many different situations such as strikes, elections, and even leaving a…
During the spring of 2007 on the Virginia Polytech Institute campus, a student named Seung-Hui Cho had shot 2 students in a resident hall before entering classrooms and shooting 32 other students and professors (Glum). This event had created a call for necessities in protecting not only the Virginia Tech school but all large campuses in America. Director of Virginia’s 32 National Campus Safety Initiative S. Daniel Carter stated, “That one incident sort of crystallized campus safety in people’s minds as a very, very serious issue.” (Glum). The school itself had warning signs before the incident that also brought into questions how the situation could’ve been different and how potentional threats need be…
The Columbine Massacre, the most gruesome school shooting in U.S. history, plagued the town of Littleton, Colorado. Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, the shooters, have very diverse backgrounds. Eric was intelligent while being cool at the same time. He manages to get superior grades, while doing shameful things. However, “Dylan Klebold was a meek, self-conscious, and authentically shy. He could barely speak in front of a stranger, especially a girl” (Columbine 6). Judgment Day, the most tragic day in school history, is what Eric and Dylan called their mass murder. This day is where the two put their plans into effect. They were able to acquire several powerful guns, and make many bombs. Even though their plans did not all go as expected,…
"You had a hundred billion chances and ways to have avoided today, "But you decided to spill my blood." You forced me into a corner and gave me only one option. The decision was yours. Now you have blood on your hands that will never wash off." This were the words of," Cho Seung-Hui, 23 on April 16 2006.…
However, someone like Seung-Hui Cho, the perpetrator of the Virginia Tech shootings, links more closely with Raifman’s model.3 From a young age, Cho was very quiet, rarely speaking, and continued to act this way even after he moved to the United States from Korea.4 However, no mental health issues were suspected, mainly because his Korean culture tended to taboo mental health, causing family members to blame his silence on something else, like the fact that he was only studying a lot.4 This ignorance continued until eighth grade when he was formally diagnosed with selective mutism and social anxiety.3 He started treatment in high school and got better, but suddenly decided to stop treatment altogether, causing a setback in his mental health.4 Since federal law prohibits disclosing personal information without Cho’s permission, Virginia Tech University did not receive any information of past mental disorders;4 this directly marks one of the steps in Raifman’s model, as there was a clear reversal of mental health due to avoided intervention without accountability.2 His experience in college only exacerbated this as his writing, social interactions, and romantic endeavors were constantly rejected;4 concerns from peers led him to spend time at a mental health center before returning back to Virginia Tech for his senior year.3 Not long after, Cho legally purchased multiple guns and began practicing at shooting ranges.4 This extensive planning highlights another aspect of…
The lives of many were to change on the day of April 20th, 1999, at Columbine High School. With the death of twelve students and one teacher, it was to be the deadliest mass murder committed on an American high school campus. The massacre, committed by senior students Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, sparked debate over gun control laws; whether the availability of guns across the United States, especially to young people such as these, was socially acceptable. This event is what sparked Moore to create his documentary, ‘Bowling for Columbine’.…
The Virginia Tech massacre was an absolute disaster and could have been avoided if people actually did their jobs and what they were supposed to do leading up to and before the shootings began. Cho was spiraling well before the events and had he been reported to the police he never would have gotten his hands on two guns and all that ammunition. The Virginia Tech staff also dropped the ball because once they found the chained doors with the note that said there was a bomb, the person went up to the third floor to speak to a supervisor instead of just calling the police like they were supposed to. One if I saw chained doors and a note saying don’t leave or a bomb will go off I would immediately call the police. Then I would hop out of a window.…
Hey you think Dylan’s and Eric’s parents go in jail for what the kids did? The columbine shooting happened at the high school where they all went to school. The parents of the two boys should go to jail because they did nothing to stop them.…
Yes, Hazzard is effective for his audience because he is showing the truth about how the paramedics.…
It was Tuesday, April 20, 1999. It was an exciting day for me in the fourth grade when I turned 9 years old. However, the people of Littleton, Colorado remember that day as something more and definitely less exciting than my birthday was. On April 20, 1999 Littleton Colorado experienced what we now know as the Columbine Massacre. Two seniors at Columbine High School, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold completed this act killing 12 students, 1 teacher, and injured 21 others before committing suicide. Why would anyone want to commit such a horrific crime? Today I am going to talk to you about the boys and their preparations, the massacre itself, and the aftermath.…
Effective communication is a key ingredient of our everyday lives; from parents telling their children what to do; to taking instructions from our bosses at work. Another key element in effective communication is being able to understand what is being asked of us. In many instances part of the message being conveyed is heard, which could affect the outcome of was actually instructed of one to complete. The instance of the Shooting at Columbine High reminds me of when you take ten people, you tell the first person to pass along a message and by the time you get to the tenth person the original message is so out of context that it unclear what was said to be passed.…