Latest shootings:
Three
girls were murdered in Nickel Mines, Lancaster County,
Pennsylvania on 2006-OCT-03 by a lone gunman. Seven more were wounded; of these,
two died later in hospital and one more is expected to die. More details
"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
The following information sources were used to prepare and update the above
essay. The hyperlinks are not necessarily still active today.
"Trench coat warfare? Group opposed blacks,
Hispanics, Jews and Jocks," ABC News. Online at:
http://abcnews.go.com/
Tim Kershner, "Synod calls for action on school
violence," United Church of Christ, General Synod daily news, at:
http://www.ucc.org/
George Hunter, "Teasing and taunting led girl to end her
life; Pressures that prompted mass shootings also spur quiet suicides," The
Detroit News, 2001-MAR-7, at:
http://www.detroitnews.com/;