'The National Conversation In The Wake Of Littleton Is Missing The Mark'

Barbara Dority author of “The Columbine Tragedy: Countering the Hysteria”, illustrates how society becomes hysterical after a teen commits a mass school shooting. The Columbine shooting occurred April 20, 1999 in Littleton, Colorado. It was caused by two adolescents Eric Harris and Dylan Kledold, collectively killed 13 students and wounded 23 others. After the Columbine shooting, society looked in every direction for who is to blame for such a horrendous act of violence caused by teens. Dority expresses how society tends to panic, and take away the youths’ pleasures such as video games, music, and the very basic rights young people have. While society posit that media or Goth music is the catalyst for teen violence, it is not the media or Goth who are to blame for teen violence.

On April 20, 1999, one of the largest school shootings in American history took place at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado. Two teens, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, shot and killed 13 people and wounded more than 20 others both before committing suicide. Many believe the two teens decided to hold this school massacre because both were bullied and were outcasts. This paper will examine labeling and social control theories to explain the behavior of these two juveniles, and this paper will also include issues and solutions pertaining to these theories.

This research looks at the association of masculinity with violence, racism, power and the objectification of women, which has been around since early civilization. This study also shows how these concepts are still evident today in the media. Masculinity in the media is portrayed as muscular, violent, angry, aggressive, dominant, and warrior like. The rhetoric in media, as it relates to masculinity, has influenced the amount of violence in the world.

The definition of masculinity; Is the fact of being a man or having qualities considered typical of a man.

In order to solve the problem of violence in schools, we must first find out who the problem is. Being that not every teenager is prone to participate in such violent acts as what happened at Columbine, there must be specific environment imposed on a particular biology to turn a teenager into an Eric Harris or a Dylan Klebold. These are not normal, healthy teenagers, and they don’t just become killers overnight. They become killers because they are already deeply disturbed individuals who can be sent over the edge by all sorts of innocuous influences. Violent teens often have specific characteristics that put them at high risk for committing these crimes. These high risked students may display some of the following traits. First,

     Ever since the terrible tragedy at Columbine High School, there has been a numerous list of recent school shootings in America. Youth violence is a major issue in today’s society. Many people dread what causes adolescents to be so violent, committing horrible crimes.     

Each day, violence is pushed on children, teenagers, and adults. Yet we as a society continue to overlook the issue. We fail to ask ourselves the important questions. Why are there so many mass shootings, why are there so many unjustified murders, or why are men using masculinity as an excuse to become more aggressive towards woman sexually, and also towards men who don’t display what our modern cultures and movies tell us is manly? I believe that we don’t ask these questions not because we don’t want to hear the answers, instead because glorified ferocity has become a normal part of our everyday lives. So much so, that we think it’s just the way life is. After watching Tough Guise 2 it becomes clear that although violent action is the end result, our true problem lies within the horrible messages our movies present to us.

One of the deadliest high school shootings took place on April, 20, 1999 in Littleton Colorado. Carried out by two students and wounding more than 30 people. The day began as any other with people living their daily lives, children going to school, and parents going to work. They had planned to blow up the school and murder everyone who was inside. While the actual motives for the attack remain unknown there are several theories surrounding the boys mental health before and during the time of the attack. They were the outsiders the losers the ones who did not fit in per say. The reasoning of mental health, and being a misfit can be related to the sociological theories of containment, and social bonding. The argument of who is to blame for the

However, not all guns violence or mass shooting is motivated by extreme male aggression. There are multiple reasons behind all the guns violence. None of the less because is committed by men, it’s all night to trace such violence. Toxic masculinity aspires to toughness but is in react an ideology of living in fear: The fear of ever seeming soft, tender, weak or somehow less than manly. This insecurity is perhaps the most stalwart defining features of toxic masculinity.

It is without a doubt that there has been an increase in violent crimes in schools throughout recent years. School shootings continue to become more and more common, especially in North America. Safety concerns for any and all students and staff in schools are at all all time high due to the high number of fatal and non-fatal occurring incidences. Since 2013 to the present, it is estimated that the United States has seen approximately 205 school shootings. Weekly, that is a shocking one shooting on average. Many of these shootings have resulted in the injuries and deaths of multiple of students and staff members. (Everytown Research, 2017) Evidently, school shootings are tragic events that affect so many more people than just the victims. However, these events are also interesting to look at from the psychological and sociological point of views. Through much research, it can be concluded that school shootings are a complex problem that are caused by a mix of improper brain development and societal and media influences which motivate school shooters to emerge. Psychological factors may include struggling with mental illnesses and/or abuse that leads to damaged brain development. Additionally, being bullied and/or the role of the media are examples of sociological factors.

On December 1, 1997, he displayed his manhood to classmates by shooting at them. His story is similar to many other school shootings, with the prevalence of occurrences in attempts to display masculinity. The “gender system convinces [boys] that privileges related to masculinity-power, domination, violence-are so intrinsic to masculine identity that [they] fear they will cease to exist without them” (Klein, 46). The extreme fear students will not be able to survive inside or outside schools without the privileges of masculinity, proves boys who commit school shootings feel they have no other option. The bullied students know after leaving school, they will still face the same torment from society.

From the minute we are born, we have our paths decided for us. We are pronounced either male or female by our doctors, and such outlines the rest of our lives. With the sex we are given, we then are forced to subscribe to either masculinity of femininity, with no room for anything in between. This is where the trouble begins. Masculinity is described as a “physical, strong, tough and intimidating” person according to the documentary produced by Jackson Katz, a quick google search of the word will tell you the same. Most importantly, it represents the opposite of feminine traits such as emotion, vulnerability and silence. However, within many cultures the idea of masculinity take a dangerous and unrealistic turn. Men are often portrayed in multimedia as violent brutes hell-bent on securing respect and envy. Othello and O are prime examples of classical and modern violent masculinity.

Being a male in today’s society is not about living and enjoyment, it has become more of a task. Social pressures and media have made it difficult for males to live a life in which they are not being pressured to act or perform a certain way. In order to reassure themselves of their masculinity, violence has become the main method in assuring themselves and those around them that they are powerful. Not only is this violence being perpetrated against others, but self-inflicted violence also exists. The violence being used is not only physical but it is emotional abuse as well. Masculinity has forced many males to perform in ways that are detrimental to their own health as well as their loved ones. Furthermore, it has also put males in the

In contemporary society, hegemonic masculinity is defined by physical strength and boldness, heterosexuality, economic independence, authority over women and other men, and an interest in sexual relationships. While most men do not embody all of these qualities, society supports hegemonic masculinity within all its institutions, including the educational institute, the religious institute and other institutes which form the ideological state apparatus.

Given that the structure of gender qualities has been a large part of our views, in regards to a variety of issues, a number of people take exception to variances from within these rules. Keeping this in mind, we will discuss the reasons why many individuals are discouraged from crossing traditional gender traits, and closely examine parts of the article assigned for this paper.