by Mark Silva
Ten years after the killings at Columbine High School in Colorado, the anniversary would be more remarkable if much worse hadn't occurred since then.
It was just after 11 am on this day, in 1999, when Eric Harris, 18, and Dylan Klebold, 17, stormed into the suburban school, killed12 classmates and a teacher and wounded another two dozen before killing themselves.
In the decade that has passed, many more mass shootings have captured the headlines, in schools and outside of schools.
It was just just shy of eight years after Columbine that Seung Hui Cho burst into a classroom at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and started shooting. He killed 32 students and teachers and wounded more before turning a gun on himself.
Two years and four days after the Virginia Tech shootings, they remain remarkable for the deadly record they set - the deadliest shooting by a single gunman, on or off campus, during peacetime in the United States.
What remains most remarkable, after all these years, is that nothing really has changed in the ability of a deranged individual seeking a piece of history, maybe even a new record,, in his own destructiveness to obtain and use the weapons necessary to make that mark.
Comments
Our children are dying yet it is somehow more important to give greater access to more guns. What will it take, how many more children should be killed before we do something about it. Common sense laws must be put in place. Guns for everyone is not the answer and eliminating all guns is equally not the answer. I would like to challenge everyone on this blog to come up with new ideas. There is one hitch if you are for gun control your idea should be slanted in favor of gun rights and if you are pro guns you should slant your ideas toward gun control.
Posted by: no spin | April 20, 2009 9:43 AM
In the space of five days, we honor Jackie Robinson’s finally breaking into the major leagues and we also memorialize Eric Harris and Dylan Klebolt’s massacre at Columbine High School ten years ago.
A rotten system that kept Robinson out of baseball and harassed him for years was full of anger, hatred and the very real possibility of killing him and his family.
Eric Harris and Dylan Klebolt faced a rotten system on the other extreme. They were allowed to be violent, destructive and threaten classmates, but instead of being removed from contact with other students who were to be their victims, the two were coddled.
Jackie Robinson had the character and courage to endure and surmount far worse than the bullying that is claimed to have pushed Harris and Klebolt over the edge. Robinson didn’t give up or explode. Neither Harris nor Klebolt had character or courage. Bullying didn’t push them over the edge.
When will we start protecting the rest of us from the bullies and crazies?
Disclosure: I’m a practical, pragmatic coach and consultant. I’ve written books of case studies, “Parenting Bully-Proof Kids” and “How to Stop Bullies in their Tracks.” Check out my website and blog at BulliesBeGone (http://BulliesBeGone.com).
Posted by: Ben Leichtling | April 20, 2009 11:01 AM
You are still being lied to. Big time. If you want to find out what really happened at Columbine I suggest you read what the eyewitnesses had to say:
http://www.whatreallyhappened.com/columbineeight.php
Posted by: starviego | April 20, 2009 11:21 AM