School Shootings

Situation On February 14, 2018, Nikolas Cruz butcherd 17 students of St matchless and only when(a)man Douglas High inculcate.Since then, politicians, grieve m separates and fathers, and average citizens atomic number 18 at odds with one another over what should be go intoe to hinder much(prenominal) a catastrophe from happening again. In todays world of perceived division, animosity, and public policy debate, it seems promptly more(prenominal) than ever that prep ar pips are a hot button issue.In 2018, websites and organizations with political agendas bespeak that anywhere from 15 to 18 give lessons blastoffs defecate happened in the U.S. temporary hookup those with opposing beliefs say that those incidents do been exaggerated or isolated incidents either near or away a check campus. Since the shooting at the University of Texas (1966) to the columbine (1999) shooting to most late(a)ly the Stoneman Douglas (2018) teach shooting, acts of violence are becoming more and more common. domesticate shootings perpetrated by youth (16-25) are a concern and researchers have investigated what causes individuals to perform much(prenominal) actions. Years of research, investigating, autopsies, and psychological evaluations tooshie be, to a degree narrowed d possess into ii causes of coach shootings undivided factors affecting troubled youth and social/cultural influences.While many would argue that in that location is no definitive cause of educate shootings, it seems that most suspects involved captured many sort of contribution at the psychological or communal level.The researchers who have data to back their argument are hopefully button to be instru psychological as to determine a cure or implement pr unconstipatedtative measures to sword sure a school shooting can either never happen again or reduce the number of incidents/casualties.Researchers Argument of Individual Factors Affecting Troubled YouthThe consensus among most researchers is that the suspect suffers from mental wellness issues.Dr. McGee and Dr. DeBernardo, both forensic examiners, believe that school shooters can usually fit a common criteria ascribcapable to their research of childishs responsible for school shootings from 1993 to 1998. Both agree that through their research, the shooter is a normal adolescent coming from a middle class, white neighborhood of around 50,000 people.They have a somewhat mettlesome IQ and come from a type of scurvy home (divorce, separation, etc.). It isnt until that they investigated what the child was experiencing pre-incident that caused concern. The adolescent will experience low self-esteem, disconnect from their peers, and some sort of psychological stressor.These stressors/factors all culminate into triggering the suspect into them believing that the hardly way to respond to recent trauma is to enact violence on whoever they believe is the cause for such conflict. In the case of Charles Whitman who was the perpetrator of the University of Texas massacre, he murdered the ones closest to him, his wife and mother for debatable reasons while Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold took revenge on their entire school.Glenn W. Muschert, author of Research in tame Shootings examines the multitudes of contributing factors of school shootings and states A variety of causes whitethorn contribute to school shootings even if direct causality may not be established. (Muschert, 67) While he believes that there is no definitive cause, mental health is the primary point of argumentation. keep with the trend of individual factors affecting troubled youth, another pivotal cause that researchers can identify anyway mental health problems is peer humiliation/bullying. Mr. Kimmel and Mr. Mahler, authors and contributors to Adolescent Masculinity, Homophobia, and Violence examine the societal impacts of possible school shooters at the peer level, stating In conducting our analysis because they were diametrical from the other boysshy, bookish, honor students, artistic, musical, theatrical, nonathletic, geekish, or weird. (Kimmel Mahler, 1445)Contrary to mental health, the argument of these authors is that the influence doesnt happen personally from psychological issues but those around them. In their research, most school shooters are suburban caucasian males in suburban neighborhoods and the influence is from students use of derogatory, homophobic slurs to ridicule these kids and strangulate their individualistic qualities.Eventually this contributes to the triggers discussed with mental health and the peer humiliation/identity becomes the cause. Another quote from a researcher contributing to the argument that bullying causes school shooters states Is there something disturbing most the fact that children opine that their schools will have postgraduate levels of gay bashing, slut bashing, violence against girls, racism, and violence against those who are less able or otherwise diff erent? (Klein,233) Jessie Klein believes through experimentation, statistics and testimonials from dupes of bullying, this hurts the individual in such a way that the hardly recourse is through violence in the form of school shootings.Argument Social, Media, External Influences Lead to initiate ShootingsWhile the argument from a multitude of researchers and scholars that mental health and bullying are the preliminary factors that cause school shootings, other researchers examining the same topic have come upon the hypothesis that external factors are to rap music.The first would be the medias coverage of school shooters upon apprehension. The national news and tv coverage gives the belief that those who commit school shootings are regarded as celebrities within the nations spotlight on them. Since the columbine Shooting the news provides national news to certify America about what is currently happening but students who are currently experiencing a rough smudge of bullying, dec lining mental health, and other things see this as an opportunity to gain the watchfulness of all who are move to national disaster.Video games are believed by many to glorify and give possible shooters a chopine to commit such an act without consequence leading to the belief that violence in schools is the next step. McGee, J. P., DeBernardo, C. R. The schoolroom avenger A behavioral profile of school based shootings.The Forensic Examiner, (1999). 8(5-6), 16-18. (2018)Muschert, G.W., Research in School Shootings. (2007) vol. 1, issue.1, 60-80Kimmel, M. S. Mahler, M. Adolescent Masculinity, Homophobia, and Violence. (2003)k vol. 46, issue. 10, 1439-1458Klein, J., The Bully Society School Shootings and the Crisis of Bullying in Americas Schools. NYU Press. (2012)School ShootingsIn this physical composition it looks at some previous school shooting that have happened in the United States. It looks at the shooters, and also look at theories of what possibly couldve been their moti ves for commenting such a catastrophe, taking innocent lives. The paper looks at what we have conditioned and what we can do to prevent future school shooting tragedies. It looks at how bullying has pulled the trigger and how kids expert want to be heard. The paper looks at what psychologist and criminologist have to say about future shootings and past shooters.It looks at the copycat effect and how the 1999 Columbine High School shooting has set the tone and gained such attention that people have try or made notion that there will be an attempted repeat. Keywords School shootings are a tragedy that does not cross many minds in America until one occurs. The people who end up involved never imagine something analogous that happening to them, and the ones that go unaffected by the situation continue to ignore it. This is a major problem in America today.But we cant rightfully settle on what we dont know what to fix, looking back on these tragedies that labor nursing home in sc hools. We see dont see zero point but a iciness blood toss offer, but looking deeper than what the naked eye sees on the surface, we have saw that many of the shooters that have shot up schools in the past have been victims. They have been victims of harassment, de extortion, and anger that has been built up. They have verbalise warning signs but people in society tend to ignore and blow the warning signs off manage nothing could ever happen.That is until all the built up anger and resentment from be bullied, timbre alone, and depressed seem to outburst in to horrific tragedies. The Columbine Shooting. Americas most harmful school shooting took charge at Columbine High School in 1999. Two boys named Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold exposed fire on their classmates cleanup position which 14 classmates and teaches sustenance got taken away that day when Harris and Klebold entered their school. They also took their own life later the horrific act (Phillips, 2006). It is state that the two killers were p portion outting this soon to be known tragedy for two months.Right after the shooting happened, it was discovered that one of the gunmen had an internet site talking about killing. The website talked about make pipe bombs on the website it stated that pipe bombs were some the easiest and deadliest way to kill a striking group of people. The site also referred to NBK which was an event that that was approaching where the pipe bombs would be used. Its said that the two boys were a members of an antisocial group that are referred to as the Trench Coat Mafia there was purportedly a group of ten students that wore long coats and dark sunglasses all the time.Classmates of the two killers state that they were jerks and that they were strange. They didnt really talk to anyone else at the school, they were considered to be outcasts (Marshall, 1999). Shooters who were victims of bullying. matchless in particular shooting is a prime example that bullying can s end someone over the edge. The shooting took place at Heath High School in west Paducah Kentucky in 1997. The shooter was Michael Carneal who claimed he was bullied and he opened fire on the school prayer group, shooting eight of his classmates.When Carneal was asked why did he do it? He said he was sick of being bullied and picked on (Deadly lessons Understanding, 2003). Carneal stated that he was talked down to and wiped out(p) and even physically tormented. He was brought to his breaking point due to bullying. Michael Carneal wasnt practiced the only one that has opened fire in school due to being bullied. Alleged shooter Charles Williams who took the lives of two students injuring xiii others when he opened fire at a Santana High School in Santee California in 2001.It was the deadliest shooting in the United States since massacre that took place at Columbine High School in 1999. Williams had a fit depressingly common profile for children in trouble in the United States School s correspond to psychologists and the schools security. The teen was a social outsider whose angry lethal threats were taking as jokes by his friends and family. Richard Butterworth a psychologist who studies United States school shootings, states that the consciousness that are in kids today is shooting is the way to manifest their anger.Since the Columbine school shooting schools have been so afraid of a fire in their hallways, they have throw off extinguishers everywhere. But yet they have done nothing to what are causing the fires, these kids are mad and they dont know what else to do states Butterworth (Quinn, 2001). Eric Chester a Denver based teen expert stated that Williams appears to be another distraught, disengaged, disenfranchised kid who wanted people to take notice of him (Quinn, 2001).Williams was a 15 course of study old who was described as a skinny kid who got picked on a lot some of his other aquanauts described him as an outsider who was a nerd, but others st ate that he was well liked. One classmate Jessica more says people called him freak, dork, and nerd (Bradberry, 2001). These two examples of school shooters were not the only victims that felt like they had to open fire inside hallways to be notice or heard. Sad to say they will probably be more that are victims of being bullied and will feel as this is the only way.The Copycat Effect. Since the Columbine High School shooting they seem to be an outburst of copycats that have been found with bomb making material in their passion, people who have made threats to do something Columbine like, to people found dependable days before their plots that are columbine like and are about to be take place and have been stop due to tips to the officials. The recent school shooting that took place a Sandy plume Elementary School where 28 in total lost their life including the shooter himself and his mother.From the evidence equanimous at the house of alleged shooter Adam Lanza, there was no go odbye letters nor a tell all letter. No motive was giving as to why Lanza opened fire in an elementary school full of innocent kids, from the news the day of the shooting no one really knew of an Adam Lanza which means he was antisocial probably. However the officials and investigators did discover he was a twenty year old boy who was obsessed with mass killers. The most odd and dark disturbing thing investigators and officials cured at Lanzas house was Lanzas fascination with the 1999 Columbine High School shooting.The Columbine massacre was like the center of Lanzas obsession that had to do with mass shootings. According to the Newtown report, Lanza had hundreds of documents, images, and videos pertaining to the Columbine High School massacre. He also had downloaded videos about the two gunmen (Pearce, 2013). During an analysis of school shootings between the years 1999-2007 Professor Ralph W. Harkin of the can Jay College of Criminal Justice at City University of New York foun d that 8 out of 12 school shooters directly referred to the Columbine shooting (Pearce, 2013).Seung-hui Cho just right after the Columbine High shooting, Cho was an eighth grader when he had supposedly written a disturbing English paper and in it he stated that he wanted to make a repeat of the Columbine shooting eight years after that paper he opened fire on the campus of Virginia Tech College and took the lives of 32 people including his own. Which passed the Columbines total body estimate with flying colors, even though it was at a college. He still was in the train of pattern while he was in grade school which wasnt many years later after the Columbine shooting.Like one Criminologist warned in 2007 after the Virginia Tech shooting records exist but to be broken (Pearce, 2013). Theories behind the purpose of kids and teenage killers. Although there are a lot of theories on why kids and teenagers go on killing sprees at schools, no one can really put a find on to why they go on their killing sprees taking innocent peoples lives. A big theory is that they are bullied and thats the only one that makes sense to a lot of unknown region motives of past mass killers that go on killing sprees at schools.They are out casters that can no longer stand the bullying and humiliation, and just want to be heard. They feel as if the only fix to being heard and notice is pack guns to school and unleash the hurt and angry they feel to the bullies, even though they tend to take innocent peoples lives that havent done nothing to them in their path to destruction. Some theories state that they just want the fame weather they take their own life in the process or they pay the price living. Other theories blame mental illness, some theories blame numerous things all at once.They were mental ill and got picked on and they went unheard, so they wanted to get illustrious to get notice and heard. But nobody can actually pin point what has exactly triggered todays youths killing s prees. James Alan Fox a Criminologist professor at Northeast University in Boston states Nothing is different about kids although fifty years ago, a kid that has been getting bullied or is a victim of being bullied is more likely to take their anger out by going on a malicious mischief spree rather than to pick up the nearest gun they can get their hands on and go on a killing spree (Khadaroo, 2013).What has been learned and what can help prevent school Shootings. Shootings at educational institutes are tragic and a shocking thing for the United States. For the most recent big massacre that took place at Sandy Hook Elementary, there have been many discussions on what we can do to prevent something so horrific from happening again. But in the reality a lot of people find themselves asking can anything really be done to prevent such horrific things like school shooting from happening?An article the is prepared by Dr.Daniel J. Flannery at incident Western Reserve University and colle agues the article contains an examination of the past studies on the topic thats main focal point is on targeted and rampage or spree shootings. The article finds that there is some characteristics share from past shooters. Shooters shared characteristics like narcissism, depression, low self-esteem, and a fascination with violence. There isnt however enough distinctive similarities to create a distinctive profile for a future potential shooter (Springer, 2012).The authors came to a conclusion, that the most stiff way to possibly prevent these kind of tragedies is through a threat assessment. An assessment which requires fundamental testing, such as suicide risk, homicide risk, thought process, reality testing, mood and behavior, as well as social and developmental histories. Another key is to pay close attention to an obsession with violence and firearms. Even though this may seem obvious, but the resources that are provided to mental health school officials dont provide for the se assessments.The other conclusion that the authors have come to, is that the mental health officials and adults need to take threats of violence seriously, just like they have been doing to the suicide threats (Springer, 2012). Conclusion. The conclusion we have come to by the end of this paper on school shootings is, that majority of the shootings that have happened have been outburst of anger and just of direr need of wanting to be heard. Although there isnt many cleared motives, almost in every case the shooter have or has been bullied or has been an out caster.Weve learned that the Columbine High School shooting has set the bar high for the high body count and even though that was surpassed at the Virginia Tech shooting. The Columbine gave school shootings a new tone. Sure we could crack down on guns and make stricter laws toward them. But the Columbine shooters made it clear that if someone really knew how to make a good bomb they could just as well kill people. There are ru les about being tougher on bullying but theres always going to be bullying going on no matter how much we suspend kids, press charges against them it might take away some of the bullying.But it will still be there. A lot of these shooters just wanted to be heard and they felt as opening fire in the hallways of school was the only way to get people to mind. So even though there isnt a lot we can do in prevention of these horrific crimes we can still look for a solution. School shootings can happen in any community in this country. What people dont accredit is that it can happen in a flash, it doesnt matter how many awards the school gains for being an economic school, it doesnt matter how many good people theyre in the community.There is always a go away out person an out caster that has been a victim or is being a victim as we speak that just wants someone to hear them out but this country dont seem to listen even when they do make threats. Some shooting the shooters have clear ly said something bad was going to happen, that they were going to do something. But there again no one would listen people just think yeah right you couldnt and you wouldnt. But in reality they are being dead serious. Every threat of necessity to be taken serious and the one that makes the threats needs people to take time to listen to what they have to say, to what they are feeling.