Shootings in American schools

• "They were tired of those who were insulting them, harassing them. They weren't going to take this anymore and they wanted to stop it. Unfortunately, that's [exactly] what they did." Eric Veik, friend of Harris and Klebold, the two shooters at Columbine school. ₁
  
  
• "...much violence begins when schools and school groups 'stereotype, judge, marginalize and exclude other people.'" United Church of Christ, General Synod's daily news. ₂
  
  
• "I am sorry that it led to this. None of it should have happened. If only they would have understood, then you would still be alive." [Signed] Everyone" Message left on a placard by one of the 100 students who attended Tempest Smith's funeral. ₃
  
  
• "If you're a little different, some kids can make your life an absolute hell." Jean Vasquez, a student who twice tried to commit suicide while in middle school. ₃
  
  
• "People search in vain for some event or factor in the background of these child murderers.  They seek in vain, for it is what is NOT present that matters.  It is the absence of physical punishment, the only thing savages understand..." ₄
  
  
• "[T]he government is to blame because they took the paddle away from the schoolteacher." ₅
  
  
• "[I]f the paddle was still in schools you wouldn't have problems... maybe, if there was disiplin (sic), [at the Columbine High School shooting] never would have happened." ₆
  
  
• "[Mitchell] Johnson brought a pocket knife to school, and rumors spread through the hallways that he had been paddled for the violation, a practice allowed in Arkansas schools" (O'Brien, 1998). One of my own informants told me, "I spoke with the reporter in Jonesboro and he told me he definitely would not write about the paddling in the local newspaper, The Jonesboro Sun. When I asked him why, he said he's sick of people blaming Southern culture for the shooting." ₇

Topics covered in this section:

• Introduction: Are shootings the fundamental problem? How many were there, where and when?
  
  
• Why did the Columbine tragedy happen?

  • Beliefs by politicians, commentators, secularists, etc
  • Beliefs of Christian leaders & believers; one psychic
  • The sheriff's report & the author's theory
    
    
• Preventing future Columbines

  • Reducing bullying, teasing, and rejection in schools
    
    
• Long term effects of school shootings
  
  
• Additional information: School shootings after Columbine, Useful resources.

References used:

The following information sources were used to prepare and update the above essay. The hyperlinks are not necessarily still active today.