I Hear About The Teenage Gunmen Laughing

On April 20, 1999, the unimaginable occurred at Columbine High School in the small town of Littleton, Colorado. A school shooting, perpetrated by, then senior students, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold took the entire community by storm. With 15 deaths, including the perpetrators, and 24 non-fatal injuries, the memories of this horrific massacre will forever resonate in minds of all. With a meticulously, thought out plan, the two shooters prepared guns and bombs before performing the sickening act. Families, the FBI, local officials, psychologists,

It was 11:19 am when the first set of gunshots pierced through the walls of Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado. In 49 short minutes, two high school seniors, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold murdered 12 students and 1 teacher, and then killed themselves. Months prior, the pair planned out the attacks in a series of journal entries and video diaries. The attack at Columbine High School on April 20, 1999 raised many questions; the biggest one being, why did they do it? While the common media misconception is that the Columbine shooting was a war against jocks and outcasts, the shooting was actually perpetuated by psychopathy and depression in the shooters.

“I don’t like Mondays. This livens it up.” The sound of gunfire sent school children scrambling, rifle shots felling their intended marks. Children, who moments before had been eagerly awaiting the start of clas, became victims of Brenda Spencer’s intention of murder. Her callous words, uttered when questioned by police, mark the nation’s first high-profile school shooting, and what is thought of as of as the beginning of these modern-day tragedies. Two died and nine others were wounded that day at Grover Cleveland Elementary school in San Diego, CA. It would be another twenty years before Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado was ravaged by two students who ushering in the fear of school shootings like none before. According the storyteller,

The Columbine school shooting happened at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado on April 21, 1999. Two students, Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris, went into their school with guns and explosives with the intentions of killing as many people as possible. The two students killed twelve students, one teacher, and injured many more students before each of the shooters committed suicide (Curtis 3). If a teacher was given the right training and carrying a firearm, they could have stopped Klebold and Harris sooner and less students would have been wounded and murdered.

Parents of the kids who were killed in the shooting were upset and fuming at the same time. When parents of the passed were allowed to pay respects to their children, Brian Rohrbough was almost censored when he called Columbine School District “godless” and ended with a bible verse, Isaiah 48:22, saying “There is no peace for the wicked”. This book shows the plan, execution and aftermath of the Columbine School Shooting, and shows the lasting effects, both physical and emotional, an event such as this can have on a group of human beings.

The day of the Columbine Massacre is a day that will forever burn a hole in America’s heart. The nation was shocked at the news that on April 20, 1999, high school seniors Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris went on a precisely planned shooting rampage at their school, Columbine High School. This event killed a total of thirteen individuals, including twelve students and one highly heroic teacher, and wounded many. The reportedly troubled boys had often accused others of having bullied them, which raised the question of how apparent the warning signs were of their rampage. Because this incident was one of the first known school shootings throughout the nation, many of its specific details were taken into account to help protect schools all

     With every generation, there is some sort of tragedy that can alter ones life. Through the events that occurred on April 20, 1999, people have become suspicious of anyone that displays signs of oddness, such as; withdrawal from friends, change in physical appearance, or anyone who is an outcast. On this infamous day in history, two Columbine high school students fatally shot 12 of their peers, one teacher, and wounded 24 others before they took there own lives. It is not clear why they chose this day, but it may be because this was the 110th anniversary of Adolf Hitler’s birthday. What happened on this day was a tragedy that affected not only Columbine, but the whole country as well.

Since the day America was shocked to hear reports of a school shooting on April 20, 1999, America’s schools have changed in order provide a safer environment, ease any fears among the public, and protect students. The Columbine Massacre triggered an earthquake of changes throughout the school system. Like any earthquake, the shock was felt, then there may be a few aftershocks, but eventually it subsides and things become more lenient. Is this a problem? To figure this out we must look at the changes the massacre brought, their progression, and furthermore, where we are now.

In modern times the words “School Shooting” rings fear into the hearts of teens and parents alike. However, it wasn't always like this. The massacre at Columbine High School on April 20th 1999 changed everything. Columbine changed the course of American culture by influencing a current era of mass shootings, creating dialogue about gun laws in America and creating a culture of teens that challenge the patriarchy. Columbine was the first major High School shooting in American History.

A school administrator roams the halls to make sure all doors are locked and all students are hidden from what might be a school shooter if this scenario was not a drill. "You're training the kids," Weicker said. Similar drills which, in some states, are attended by armed and masked SWAT teams are now practiced routinely in nearly three-quarters of schools, according to a recent survey of 445 administrators funded by the American Association of School Administrators. The Columbine High School Massacre was the worst high school shooting in U.S. history and prompted a national debate on gun control laws and school safety regulations. Now we can live in a society they is a lot safer due to this laws and regulations schools and states have made to

The 2002 film Bowling for Columbine is a documentary written, directed, and narrated by Michael Moore. Moore has won numerous awards including the Academy Award for best documentary feature. The film explores acts of violence with guns and the primary causes for the Columbine School Massacre, where two students shot and killed thirteen people and injured twenty-one others. Bowling for Columbine takes a deep and often disturbing probe into what the motives may have been for the shooters and investigates other gun-related issues along the way. Moore explores different aspects of gun-culture such as receiving free guns from a bank, taking a look at America’s violent history, and interviewing important people like Charlton Heston, former president of the National Rifle Association. The film ultimately comes to the conclusion that the American culture of fear along with the accessibility of guns is the reason why there are so many gun-related deaths. This thesis is supported by many examples Ethos, Logos, and Pathos evidence.

During what started like any other day in a small Colorado town on April 20th, 1999 ended in tragedy and death. Seniors Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris wrote about how they would execute the massacre. In the journal found in Harris’s bedroom was written almost every part of their plan. They wrote how they would like to “leave a lasting impression on the world with this kind of violence” as well as how they wanted to “kill mankind” and have no one to survive. Initially they wrote how they were planning for a long time to bomb the school in an attack similar to the 1995 Oklahoma City bombings, but its failure led to this event. The investigators also found videotapes in which some contained both seniors planning and practicing with their guns for the attack and others

"I'm angry someone would do this to us. There are lives ruined, families ruined, and our whole school year is ruined" (Brackely 1). Casey Brackely, once a student that attended Columbine High School, remembers the tragedy of the horrific Columbine shooting that killed and injured many students. Mass shootings in the United States have been on the rise since the 1980’s, especially in the last decade. These shooters motives and profiles are almost all terrifyingly alike. Many of these shooters try to imitate and parallel the tragic shooting of the Columbine High School in 1999. These shootings have made peaceful organizations, such as an elementary school; become a place of violence and death. Currently, in the United States, an epidemic of

April 20, 1999, the date then will always leave a horrifying mental scar, this was possibly the worst day any kid could ever imagine. I was in tenth grade at the time and just like every other day I was acting up and talking to my friends. In third period around 11:20 A.M. an announcement comes over the loudspeakers blaring the message, “lockdown, lockdown, this is not a drill.” I panicked as well as most of the school did, I heard girls scream in fright and everyone rushing to get into a classroom. I had no idea what was going on at the time until I heard gunshots from two different guns and explosions scattering the school halls. I was scared for not only my life but all other students and teachers of Columbine High School.

Scissors, crayons, notebooks, headstone, glue sticks are all supplies needed for this school year. Wait, a headstone? Yes, since 2013 there has been 242 school shootings (Everytown). This means thousands of student’s lives have been put at risk. Sadly, not all of the students have made it out alive. Once there was a time where the biggest worries a student had during the day was if they would get a swing at recess, who was dating who, or even if they had been accepted to college, not if today was the day they would get shot. Three things come to mind when it comes to school shootings: the attacker, how they carry out the attack, and the attacker’s motive.