Are School Shooting's American?
Landry Walker
Overview
In America, school shootings are not unheard of and happen rather often, especially in this current era. Since the Columbine massacre in 1999, America alone has experienced another 31 mass shooting incidences. Contrastingly, the rest of the world has only had 14 combined in that time period. This puts into perspective that this deadly trend is occurring far more commonly in America than it is across the rest of the globe.
1999 Columbine Massacre
School Shootings in America
Comparing America to the World
School Shootings in America
Columbine
The Columbine Massacre occurred on April 20th, 1999 at Columbine High School in Colorado. This attack, led by two high school senior boys who attended Columbine resulted in 15 dead (1 teacher, 12 students and the 2 perpetrators who committed suicide afterwards) and 21 who were injured non-fatally. The massacre is still the deadliest mass murder committed on a American high school campus. Although this is not the first school shooting to happen in America, it was the most profound on impact at the time. It sparked a series of high profile spree shootings that have occurred between then and now.
America Post-Columbine
Since Columbine, 31 mass shootings have occurred in America. While not all of them have been in schools, many were and these tend to be the deadliest in result. Several notable school shootings include Nickel Mines, Pennsylvania, Virginia Tech, Delaware State University, Northern Illinois University, Texas Southern University, University of Alabama, Oakland Christian college, and Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut. America also has suffered mass shootings in places where large crowds of people gather such as malls and conferences. School shootings take place in America for many reasons. Bullying, psychopathy and depression, violence from media such as tv, movies, music and video games.
School Shootings Around the World
While school shootings are very rare in other countries across the globe, they are not unheard of. Compared to America, the rest of the world does not face this severe problem as often. Violence and deadly acts are very common globally though. Some analysts believe that when there are mass shootings in other countries, they are more driven politically and by religion. Shooting up a school is thought to be far less common because people are driven more greatly by beliefs, not emotions and seeking revenge, attention or the culmination of a darkness people experience like in many American cases.
Connection to "Columbine" by Dave Cullen
This book is a definite account of the Columbine killers, their planning and motives, and the extensive investigations that followed. He depicts how troubled the boys were that they felt the need to pursue this act of terror. The book discusses it's mark on American history and how other students in the US are facing the same things the two Columbine killers did. The book's back cover states, "The horror they inflicted left an indelible stamp on the American psyche." This book demonstrated just how impactful school shootings, especially Columbine itself, have been on America and the system of education. Since Columbine, America has had to increase school security and questions about gun control have been raised. These concerns plague America in a way that other countries don't experience due to the rarity of the occurrences.
Works Cited
Bowman, Lee. "School Shootings: 120 Attempted Assaults on America's Schools Thwarted over 10 Years." KNXV. Scripps Howard News Service, 19 Dec. 2012. Web. 03 June 2013.
Fragassi, Joe. "PolicyMic." PolicyMic. N.p., Dec. 2012. Web. 03 June 2013. <http://www.policymic.com/articles/20843/31-school-shootings-in-america-since-columbine-only-14-in-the-rest-of-the-world-combined>.
Kawasaki, Guy. "School Shootings Around the World." N.p., n.d. Web.
"Newtown, Conn. Shooting: Timeline of Mass Killings Since Columbine." Newsmax. Telegraph, Reuters, and Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 2013. Web. 03 June 2013. <http://www.newsmax.com/US/mass-shootings-us-colorado/2012/07/20/id/445971>.
"School Shootings around the World." GlobalPost. Planet Pic, 14 Dec. 2012. Web. 03 June 2013. <http://www.globalpost.com/photo-galleries/planet-pic/5729160/school-shootings-around-the-world>.
Fragassi, Joe. "PolicyMic." PolicyMic. N.p., Dec. 2012. Web. 03 June 2013. <http://www.policymic.com/articles/20843/31-school-shootings-in-america-since-columbine-only-14-in-the-rest-of-the-world-combined>.
Kawasaki, Guy. "School Shootings Around the World." N.p., n.d. Web.
"Newtown, Conn. Shooting: Timeline of Mass Killings Since Columbine." Newsmax. Telegraph, Reuters, and Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 2013. Web. 03 June 2013. <http://www.newsmax.com/US/mass-shootings-us-colorado/2012/07/20/id/445971>.
"School Shootings around the World." GlobalPost. Planet Pic, 14 Dec. 2012. Web. 03 June 2013. <http://www.globalpost.com/photo-galleries/planet-pic/5729160/school-shootings-around-the-world>.