Columbine Essay, Research Paper

A little over two years ago, one of the worst tragedies concerning our nation?s children was playing out in a small rural town in Colorado. The date was April 20, 1999; the anniversary of Adolf Hitler?s Birthday, for any history buffs. But for everyone else the day started out like any other. In Jefferson County (often mistakenly reported as being in Littleton), Colorado, children went to school and parents went off to work. Neither was overly concerned about the other, or about how the day would go, but in a few hours, that would all change.

Kleboldharris also went off to school that fateful day in April. Only they knew that this day was anything but ordinary. This was the day that they had been waiting and planning for. When they got to school, instead of pulling out their books for class, they pulled out guns, and started shooting. By the time the shooting stopped, fifteen people lay dead, including one teacher, and kleboldharris, themselves.

As the swat team and other police members searched the school for other accomplices, bombs were found everywhere. Over thirty homemade bombs were found in, and around the school, some set to timers, and others to booby traps. The largest bomb was found in the kitchen, and held enough explosive material to nearly level the entire school building. All were defused and carried away without an incident. However, the question persisted for many weeks about the manpower needed to carry out such a feat. Could two people really make and set over thirty bombs? And then, could those same two people organize the massacre that occurred at Columbine with no outside help?

The sad answer seems to be yes. Although they apparently received help in obtaining the weapons used in the shooting, no one besides kleboldharris knew their plans. And after their suicides, no one was left to explain the awful mess that they left behind.

Even though there was a thorough investigation, there are many questions that still surround this tragedy. What caused these two teenagers to go to such drastic measures? Why was no one able to stop them? Were there any signs that this kind of destruction was in the making? But, more importantly, what has been the aftermath of this horrible massacre? These questions don?t have any definite answers, but speculations are more than abundant.

In what was to become known as ?the basement tapes?, kleboldharris gave the most revealing insight into their psyche. In these tapes kleboldharris say that they were natural born killers. If we are to be held to this kind of thinking then we are to believe that some people are just plain evil, and there is nothing that can be done to stop them. But there were warning signs. And with warning signs, there is an opportunity for intervention.

The most easily identifiable accomplice in hardening the hearts of kleboldharris lies in the media. From video games to movies, violence and callousness towards violence is everywhere. The ?shock-jock?, Howard Stern, was the most distasteful of the crowd. Immediately after the shootings he made comments about the girls running out of Columbine, screaming and waving their arms in the air, as being sexy. He claimed that if he was going to shoot them, he would first have had sex with them. He also made comments about their not being any black people left in Colorado?or at least now two or three of them were gone.

His comments were as distasteful as they come, yet this is what America listens to. If it weren?t so, he wouldn?t be on the air. ?If we are willing to pay for violent ?entertainment? than we should expect our fantasies to infect our real lives. At some point violent talk becomes a public threat.? (Schweitzberger)

The media is hardly solely to blame. Eric Harris was on drugs. He was prescribed some sort of psychotropics, which are mind- altering medications. He was rejected by the Marine Corps because of this medication (Schweitzberger). Yet the public school system was not aware that he was taking any medication. Children who are diabetics normally must be sent to the nurse to be given their insulin. Why don?t the same rules apply to those who are on mood altering medicines? In the ?basement tapes?, Eric claims that he stopped taking his medication shortly before the attack, in order to let his rage build. If he had been monitored by the school or his parents, this would have been much more difficult to accomplish.

There doesn?t seem to be any attempt to hide their intentions. In a creative writing class, kleboldharris wrote stories that showed their hatred, anger and their desire to harm or kill others. In another class, Eric presented a video, which depicted kleboldharris armed with guns, enacting revenge shootings on other Columbine students. Also, Eric was known to have maintained a web site that was filled with nazi memorabilia and violence, most of which was directed towards his own classmates.

Kleboldharris had managed to accumulate an arsenal of sorts in their basement. How could this happen without anyone noticing? The invasion of privacy in this matter wouldn?t be at all comparable to reading a diary (although in this instance, that too would have been useful). The parents should have noticed, and should have said something. The neighbors claim that they heard a lot of noise coming from the house the day before the massacre. Maybe if they had said something, they would have found and stopped kleboldharris from making their bombs.

People try so hard to maintain and give personal privacy that our safety is being jeopardized. Invasion of privacy is condoned when it concerns cases of child pornography, sexual harassment, and ethnic intimidation. Why not intended violence, too?

Religious intolerance also seems to be an important factor. In the basement tapes kleboldharris mention the name of Rachel Scott as a target because she is a ?Christianity whore?. Where would they ever get such ideas? The public school system is set up with the concept of separation of church and state. Yet somehow this has been translated to mean separation of people from their faiths. This country was founded on the belief in a God, without ever mentioning a particular religion. In our history, this concept is prevalent. But it is not allowed to be taught this way in school. Having faith in just about anything is taboo.

This type of thinking translated even in the wake of the Columbine shootings. Crosses were set up near the school as a memorial to the dead. But since it was on public property, they were not allowed to stay. The survivors were clinging to their faith, while the government was tearing it down. Stripped of faith, there is nothing but hopelessness and a sense of futility. Perhaps that is what kleboldharris was dealing with.

Gun control has somehow become one of the main issues when talking about the Columbine tragedy. School superintendents, governors, and even the president of the United States have given speeches on whether better enforcing gun control laws, or making new laws is the answer. Kleboldharris didn?t have any problems in getting the weapons used in the shooting. But if they had, then maybe their propane bombs would have been used, and to a greater destruction. In that case, would there be speeches given on stricter propane tank laws?

So left with unwanted moral issues, society has instead turned towards accountability. Understandably, the parents should have supervised their children better. Coming from an era where corporal punishment is a no-no, and truth is defined by the individual, the parents of kleboldharris were perhaps doing what they thought was best. Maybe they were just your average parents nowadays. The only difference is that kleboldharris killed fifteen people, and now society wants answers.

U.S. law has generally avoided holding parents accountable for the crimes of their children, except in certain cases, where the parents were directly involved such as in providing the crime weapon. But since the rash of school shootings in recent years, a growing number of the American public is starting to think that the parents of delinquent minors should be held accountable. While laws of this nature might get parents more involved with their children, the problem becomes more complicated when the parent is used merely as a scapegoat to satisfy justice (Blakemore).

Besides trying to hold the parents of kleboldharris accountable, the sheriff?s office is also under fire. Among many other mistakes (or mishaps) that happened during the rescue operation at Columbine on April 20, 1999, the Rohrbough family believes that the police, not kleboldharris, shot their son, Daniel (Thomson). The problem in this situation lies in the investigation. The sheriff?s office is not likely going to incriminate themselves in their own investigation.

There are also, of course, the lawsuits against Mark Manes and Philip Duran, the two men who illegally provided guns to the boys while they were still minors. They readily plead guilty to selling the weapons, and are serving sentences in jail. However, the lawsuit is aimed at holding them partially responsible for the deaths of the thirteen people that were shot by kleboldharris (Weller).

Three other families are in the process of suing school officials at Columbine High School. Given all the signs, many think that the faculty should have seen and done something to stop events from unfolding the way that they did. They believe that just about anyone could?ve seen that kleboldharris were dangerous through their videotape and written and verbal statements. But, Under Colorado State law, the plaintiffs in this case have to prove that the teachers and other faculty members were not only negligent in their dealings with the minors, but also willful and wanton in not taking any action before the massacre (Campbell).

Some families have opted not sue and are getting on with their lives, giving thanks for the small things, like just being alive. The survivors of the attack are noticeably closer to their friends and family. Cliques aren?t as prevalent, and kids who would normally never talk to each other are coming together for comfort.

Along with these things to be thankful for, there is of course the darker side. Carla June Hochhalter went through so much trauma when her seventeen year old daughter, Anne Marie, was shot and paralyzed, that she went on to shoot and kill herself (Slevin). Not everyone?s story is as dramatic, but all live with a new sense of fear. Many are still haunted by nightmares. Parents are afraid to let their children out of sight. And the kids are left with a feeling of vulnerability. The world has changed in their eyes, and it is no longer the safe place that it once seemed.

The answers to making our schools safer not only lie in prevention, but also in intervention. Maybe the warning signs that were not seen with kleboldharris will now be more noticeable in other kids. No school is absolutely safe from such a tragedy, but if the lessons from Columbine are learned, we all have a much better chance.

Kleboldharris mentioned in the ?basement tapes? that they wanted their revenge upon the school to be God-like (Schweitzberger). And perhaps in a way it was. In school, a place where God was not normally allowed, he became the most needed. For after the massacre, more people turned to churches and ministers than to certified secular counselors that were provided for the survivors and their families.. The Jefferson County community came together as they prayed together, and found purpose and meaning through their faith.

Bibliography

References

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