COLUMBINE; AMERICA 'S AWAKENING
“In a matter of minutes, two youths shot and killed 12 fellow students and a teacher, and wounded 20 others, before turning their guns on themselves,” says the article “The Columbine Tragedy, April 20 1999” from Historic U.S. Events. Overcome with hatred, two seniors, Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris, conducted a mass murder shooting at Columbine High School. This provoked fear and inspired a wave of other school shootings across the country. At 11:15 am, a mass school shooting occurred at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado. In order to understand the attack on April 20, 1999, we must examine the causes and effects it had on America so we can prevent another tragedy. Columbine has changed security …show more content…
Soon after, Eric and Dylan’s friends became scared of them, noticing their sudden interest in guns and explosives. One of the friends saw them huddled over a piece of paper. It was a diagram of the cafeteria and where the surveillance cameras were placed (Cullen 89, 333). However, some of their friends, Robyn Anderson and Mark Manes helped Eric and Dylan get guns three nights before the attack from unlicensed dealers (Gimpel 67). As Dylan and Eric’s plan unfolded, they began to leave disturbing hints of what was to come. They began to make yearbook entries referring to the attack, made a schedule of their attack, and even videotaped themselves talking about the attack. These videos would later be called the “basement tapes” (Gimpel 20-24). In the basement tapes, they refer to their tormentors, and how they have held so much anger for four years (Cullen 327). Eric however, vented some of his hatred alone, on his website “It told us who he hated, what he wanted to do to the world and what he had already done” (Cullen 170). Their build up of hate led to one day, “Judgement …show more content…
“In the years since that fateful day, Columbine has become a potent symbol of the alienation and violence that can often lie hidden beneath the seemingly tranquil surface of contemporary American life” (Rabey, Nimmo, and Scott 2). Columbine provoked fear in students/people. People were terrified that a shooting would occur at their school (Gimpel 8). That is exactly what Dylan and Eric wanted, to make a statement and leave behind a legacy, says Joel A. Dvoskin a Ph.D (qtd. in Columbine). However, many theories erupted from the Columbine school shooting, but bullying and mental instability were two main topics questioned after the massacre. The theory of bullying was later dismissed when researchers realized that Dylan and Eric just wanted to kill everybody (Gimpel 80). When Dr. Fuselier read Eric 's journal, he was astonished when he read the first line which was,“I hate this f***ing world” that is when he realized that it was an all-pervasive hate (Cullen 169). Along with the hatred, many believed the killers were mentally ill. As said previously, Eric did not want to kill a certain group of people, he wanted to kill everybody. This led Dwayne Fuselier, the lead Columbine investigator, to recognize the characteristics of a psychopath in Eric. They believed he was a homicidal psychopath because he did not feel remorse from his hateful thoughts or actions (Gimpel 77-79). Dylan on the other hand, was
“In a matter of minutes, two youths shot and killed 12 fellow students and a teacher, and wounded 20 others, before turning their guns on themselves,” says the article “The Columbine Tragedy, April 20 1999” from Historic U.S. Events. Overcome with hatred, two seniors, Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris, conducted a mass murder shooting at Columbine High School. This provoked fear and inspired a wave of other school shootings across the country. At 11:15 am, a mass school shooting occurred at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado. In order to understand the attack on April 20, 1999, we must examine the causes and effects it had on America so we can prevent another tragedy. Columbine has changed security …show more content…
Soon after, Eric and Dylan’s friends became scared of them, noticing their sudden interest in guns and explosives. One of the friends saw them huddled over a piece of paper. It was a diagram of the cafeteria and where the surveillance cameras were placed (Cullen 89, 333). However, some of their friends, Robyn Anderson and Mark Manes helped Eric and Dylan get guns three nights before the attack from unlicensed dealers (Gimpel 67). As Dylan and Eric’s plan unfolded, they began to leave disturbing hints of what was to come. They began to make yearbook entries referring to the attack, made a schedule of their attack, and even videotaped themselves talking about the attack. These videos would later be called the “basement tapes” (Gimpel 20-24). In the basement tapes, they refer to their tormentors, and how they have held so much anger for four years (Cullen 327). Eric however, vented some of his hatred alone, on his website “It told us who he hated, what he wanted to do to the world and what he had already done” (Cullen 170). Their build up of hate led to one day, “Judgement …show more content…
“In the years since that fateful day, Columbine has become a potent symbol of the alienation and violence that can often lie hidden beneath the seemingly tranquil surface of contemporary American life” (Rabey, Nimmo, and Scott 2). Columbine provoked fear in students/people. People were terrified that a shooting would occur at their school (Gimpel 8). That is exactly what Dylan and Eric wanted, to make a statement and leave behind a legacy, says Joel A. Dvoskin a Ph.D (qtd. in Columbine). However, many theories erupted from the Columbine school shooting, but bullying and mental instability were two main topics questioned after the massacre. The theory of bullying was later dismissed when researchers realized that Dylan and Eric just wanted to kill everybody (Gimpel 80). When Dr. Fuselier read Eric 's journal, he was astonished when he read the first line which was,“I hate this f***ing world” that is when he realized that it was an all-pervasive hate (Cullen 169). Along with the hatred, many believed the killers were mentally ill. As said previously, Eric did not want to kill a certain group of people, he wanted to kill everybody. This led Dwayne Fuselier, the lead Columbine investigator, to recognize the characteristics of a psychopath in Eric. They believed he was a homicidal psychopath because he did not feel remorse from his hateful thoughts or actions (Gimpel 77-79). Dylan on the other hand, was