The School Shooters

“Many of these individuals who turn guns on their fellow classmates are…from middle class families. As the first school shooting appeared in the media, there was hope that nothing like it would happen again.  Now, almost every month we see some sort of school violence in the media.  It is almost as if it is some kind of sick…trend.  Why?”
Tricia McGreer, Rockridge High School, Taylor Ridge, Illinois

“Why should seemingly normal children revert to the horrible act of a massacre in Littleton, Colorado? The answer is not known. Some may claim that it is because of an unstable childhood or temporary insanity. The parents or the school gets blamed instead of the murderer. This method of placing the blame on others is a common practice in the United States today. There are numerous ways for a person to change from being at fault to being victimized. With so many preposterous lawsuits being won from loopholes in the law or ridiculous mental disorders defending those on trial, there is always something to place the blame on other than ourselves.”
Jennifer Glass, Demopolis High School, Demopolis, Alabama

“The shootings in Littleton, Colorado, and the rapes and murders of everyday life [are often] blamed on either Hollywood movies [or] world news…people…say it is because their children watch TV. In my opinion, it is because people misuse and abuse their children by beating, molesting, threatening, and ignoring them.”
Jayne Burrow, Salem High School, Salem, Missouri

“Good homes and good families are hard to come by, which leaves many people, mostly teens, feeling unloved, unimportant, and unnoticed. This is where the problem with violence comes in. …The school shootings were done by young teens who, in one way or another, were usually unhappy with something in their lives.”
Rachel Casey, Salem High School, Salem, Missouri

Trick or treat? Acting up or more attention?
“Teenage violence: is it an outcry of rebellion or a desperate outreach for attention?”
Elisabeth Slayden, Rockridge High School, Taylor Ridge, Illinois

“A shot rings out through the halls. Teachers race to lock their doors. A desperate cry for attention. A need to be loved. Does this sound familiar? A teenager is defined in the dictionary as ‘someone in their teens.’ This definition is unclear and confusing. That is what being a teenager is all about: lost and undefined. Today teens suffer from the trials of adolescence every waking moment. There is a…need to find a way to help these teens become adults and face the real world.”
Tamara Parchert, Rockridge High, Taylor Ridge, Illinois       

Too little attention from communities:
“Communities today, as well as families, are not as close-knit as they used to be, and part of it is the way teens do not take any responsibility in their communities.”
Rachel Murrin, Rockridge High School, Taylor Ridge, Illinois