Teen Violence in Schools

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Ever since the Columbine massacre occurred, people were asking "why?" There were reports that the

shooters did not fit in, had barely any extra-curricular activities, and had no parental influence, as their

parents were always working or away. These were true, but how bad does it have to get until someone

decides to take such drastic measures as these shooters did? At what age does a sense of violence grow in a

Write my Essay on Teen Violence in Schools

person's mind? Can it be prevented? Many questions need to be asked about teenage violence, and some

will be answered.

"In Germany they came first for the Communists, and I didnt speak up because I wasnt a

Communist. Then they came for the Jews, and I didnt speak up because I wasnt a Jew. Then they came for

the trade unionists, and I didnt speak up because I wasnt a trade unionist. Then they came for the

Catholics, and I didnt speak up because I was a Protestant. Then they came for me, and by that time no

one was left to speak up. -- Martin Niemoller, 145. This quotation may get people thinking that W.W.II

was a long time ago, and it will not happen again; a Nazi regime will not try to gain power. Violence is

everywhere; and there have been so many times that a teen could have spoken up because they knew of a

school shooting, yet they did not. "Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it." -- George

Santanyana. Maybe they did it out of fear, but because they did not speak up, many innocent people died.

Violence is a constant fact of life. And with more children growing up in a society where violence is

becoming more acceptable, you must fear our future.

Teens today are facing too much pressure, anger and isolation from groups around them and will

tend to not know how to deal with these problems effectively if they are not overcome. The main problem

affecting these teens is most likely their own peers; since they are now at an age where they feel they must

adjust their own behaviour, attitudes, and appearance in order to fit in.

Columbine; if you were to say this word around a group of people, they would know what it was.

A Colorado school, placed under attack in April 1 by two students, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold.

Dressed in their trademark trenchcoats, they entered their school at 110 am and opened fire. They killed

1 students and one teacher, before killing themselves. Twenty three more were injured, several of these

injuries were critical.1 What even possessed these teens to do it is unknown, and most likely will continue to

be unknown. They came from well established families, and had good backgrounds. There were reports of

them being pushed into lockers by their peers, making them feel like outcasts. But how far does it have to

go? How bad does this harassment have to get before they just "snap"?

The teens from Columbine, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold obviously did not fit in. They hated the

kids at school, and decided to get revenge. They came prepared for a huge assault too, bringing a -mm

assault rifle, a semiautomatic pistol, two sawed-off shotguns and a supply of some three dozen homemade

bombs. Some of these bombs, filled with shards of glass, would go off and tear into the bodies of their

victims. Other 0-cm pipe bombs were filled with nails and BBs to spray victims with these deadly

fragments. They planted about 5 devices throughout the school, including a -kg propane tank inside a

duffel bag, rigged with a gasoline can and a timer.

After all school shootings, the blame game starts. Many turn to the media, peer pressure, parental

control and influence, and in the case of Columbine, gun control. The boys were fascinated with violent

computer games, they made their own Web site, which had links to bomb making sites. A father of a

student said that he gave printouts from this Web site that included this threat " I live in Denver, and I

would love to kill almost all of its residents... People with their rich snobby attitude, thinking they are all

high and mighty... I will rig up explosives all over town and detonate each one of them at will after I mow

down a whole area of you."4 After the man gave police this warning, they did nothing. One of the boys'

favourite movies was Natural Born Killers, a 14 movie by Oliver Stone, which depicted young

murderers utterly devoid of remorse. They even made their own video in which they talked about destroying

the school. They showed this video to one of their classes, but nobody took it seriously.5

The boys were also pushed around by their peers, verbally assaulted, and felt like misfits in the

school. For their first years of High School, they had blended in nicely, and in Grade 11, "They totally

changed," said Mike Paavilainen "They started wearing all black and keeping to themselves. It was kind of

weird."6 Columbine was full of jocks and preppies, and as the boys began to dress strangely, listen to

suicidal themed music, and develop a fascination with Hitler, it is easy to see how they did not fit in. A

diary of one of the boys showed that they had been planning their attack for a year, for the date of Hitler's

birthday (April 0). The dairy said, "We want to be different, we want to be strange and we don't want

jocks or other people putting [us] down.... We're going to punish you."7

Dylan Klebold's parents were very well-to-do. His father, Thomas ran a real estate company, and

his mother, Susan was a college councellor. They lived in a $750,000 house on an exclusive road. Dylan

owned a BMW, which he drove every day to the Harris' house. Eric Harris lived in a $00,000 home,

where his father Wayne is a retired air force pilot.8 They lived well enough, and with so much money, one

could find it hard to see why they decided to change. Where were their parents when they were planning

these dangerous acts? Police found a shotgun barrel on a dresser and bomb making materials in one of the

boys' room. A lot of the weapons were clearly visible, and the parents should have noticed something, yet

they did not. Even neighbours reported hearing glass shattering the night before the attack - most likely

things to go into their deadly bombs.

In terms of nature versus nurture, there is no gene for violence. Violence is a learned behavior, and

it is often learned in the home or the community from parents, family members, or friends. Children that

show aggressive behaviour at a young age are more likely to grow up to become involved in

violence--either as a victimizer or as a victim. The home is the main factor that starts accepting violence at

a young age. A child who sees a parent or other family member abused is more likely to see violence as an

acceptable way of behaving and will use violence to solve their own problems. Although violence is not

from a person's genes, studies show that there is a connection between violent behavior and some inherited

traits. Some of these traits are things such as impulsiveness, learning difficulties, low IQ, and fearlessness.

These traits can lead to a person becoming violent. Another study shows that males are more likely to be

violent.

Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris were alienated; they chose to be. So they focused their resentment

and rage on powerful images of violence and anarchy. Stephen Kent, a sociologist at the University of

Alberta who specializes in alternative belief systems says, "What happens with extremely alienated kids is

that they will most likely obtain their values from the primary deviant subgroup. They spend increasingly

large amounts of time with one another, to the exclusion of contact with a larger society." If this group

were to encourage the members to ignore the pain of others, then the members will soon believe that pain is

not a big thing. So they can then vent their anger on the object of their hatred, in this case, all of the

students at Columbine that were different from them. Since the boys made their victims beg for mercy, it

showed that they were on a huge power-trip, and had huge amounts of rage inside them.

There is no profile for a school shooter. Some of the children that committed a shooting at school

were popular, some were outcasted by their peers. Some of them had good grades, and others were failing.

Some of the kids were in foster care, others were from good homes, where some of their parents were well

known members of the community. It does not always depend on the teen's personality traits, it is usually

just what they feel inside.

Jefferson County District Attorney David Thomas talked about all the things that could have led

upto this massacre. He spoke of cultural change, how children grow up where violence is now more

acceptable, how the police failed to see the signs, and how society makes children without feeling or

remorse.10 Alan Leschied, a leading Canadian researcher on teen violence, points out that there are a lot of

factors involved to create a Columbine. "It's dangerous to take a very complex thing and whittle it down to

one single cause. It is a combination of how culture is working, how the family is working, and how culture

within that school was developing. All of this came together to create this tragedy."11

The signs of a teen willing to commit a violent act may not be obvious at all times. Most teens

want to make it seem as if they are in control, and try to mask their true feelings. The best people who can

prevent a violent act from occurring are friends and family. If parents are able to have a comfortable

conversation with their children, then they should consider it. Also, many children who feel rejected can

start to do the same to others. Some will try to distract themselves with movies or games. Mostly, children

have not been taught how to deal with their anger, so when dealing with their feelings, they do the wrong

things. Basically, whenever a child seems to be acting in a strange manner is when friends, family or school

should consider intervening.

In hopes to prevent violence, programs can be put in place at a young age. These do not have to be

taught in schools, but parents can help to prevent violent behaviour. To encourage children to act polite and

non-violent, it is encouraged that they have positive role models, which can help to boost their self esteem.

Children need to have supportive relationships, with parents, teachers and friends; this helps them to

develop a sense of trust. Being socialized correctly can help in improving overall social skills, peer

relationships and a belief in oneself.

In July 000, The Federal Interagency Forum released some statistics that rates of juvenile violence

have dropped to the lowest point in 0 years. Although teen murder rates have dropped by 60%, and teen

violence by 0%,1 it does not mean that violence is totally banished. Violence is a factor and will remain a

factor in all of North American society. The culture of violence is only going to increase during the coming

years because violence is becoming more acceptable on television. Many of those students who went on a

school shooting actually warned their classmates and family beforehand what they wanted to do. These

children were trying to get attention, they just went about it the wrong way. It is now upto their peers,

family, teachers and community to give these children the help they need, before it gets out of hand, before

more die.

Bain, Colin M. / Colyer, Jill S. The Human Way Introducing Anthropology, Psychology and Sociology

Canada Oxford University Press, 001, 8-41

Chisholm Patricia "Teens Under Siege" MacLean's Magazine May , 1, -4

Phillips, Andrew "Lessons of Littleton" MacLean's Magazine May , 1, 18-1

http//abcnews.go.com/sections/us/DailyNews/ethics_violence0106.html [5//0]

http//www.cbsnews.com/stories/00/05/16/national/main508.shtml [5//0]

http//www.sacwriters.com/sacindy/articles/christ/kids_these_days.htm [5//0]

http//www.foxnews.com/story/0,,1755,00.html [5/7/0]

http//planetx.bloomu.edu/~jrandreo/violence.html#Statistics [5/7/0]

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