On May 21st, 1998 tragedy struck at Thurston High School in Springfield, Oregon. The shooter was identified as Kipland F. Kinkel, a fifteen year old male, who shot his parents and proceeded to open fire in the high school cafeteria. Mayor Bill Kitzhaber made this statement after the incident, “We need to ask ourselves what kind of fear leads people to do something like this, what kind of lack of opportunity drives them to make this horrible choice,” (as cited in Claiborne, 1998). Throughout Kip Kinkel’s life many failings occurred, which leads to the evaluation of the family, education system, and social structure among society to better understand similar occurrences, and what measures of prevention can be taken in order to avoid future incidents. One of the first failings that took place in Kip’s life was his struggle with acceptance. This problem began at a very early age. Kip’s parents often paid more attention to his older sister Kristin. They had very high expectations and Kip struggled to keep up. The video portrayed home movie clips that were focused on Kristin and all of her accomplishments. Kip would try and do the things his sister did, but never earned the recognition that he longed for as a child. When Kip began school he had a hard time making friends. He attempted a few extracurricular activities …show more content…
Kip began acting out and as a result, his parents provided him with something that he wanted. Their intentions were if they gave him something he wanted, it would discourage him from making bad choices. For example, Kip was caught stealing items, as well as, throwing rocks at cars. Most parents’ would have taken something away, ground the child, or give them extra chores. In Kip’s case he was given a new gun, a knife, and even a computer. This positive reinforcement encouraged Kip to act out because he knew in the end he would get the attention he craved and the item he
In the short story, “The Intruder”, by Andre Dubus, the main character, Kenneth, experiences changes that affect his relationships with his family and himself. Even though thirteen-year-old boys undergo quite a few changes in this time of their life, Kenneth goes through even more shifts in his world during this story. As Kenneth avoids sharing his imagination with his family, hides his sister, Connie’s, secrets for her, and shoots Connie’s boyfriend, Kenneth’s way of relating with the people in his life is affected drastically. In “The Intruder”, the effect of Kenneth and his family’s actions are shown through the changes Kenneth undergoes.
There are many causes on why a child or teenager may misbehave. There could be issues at home, with family, other kids, peer pressure, and the list goes on. This can affect family, friends and their own lives in a negative way. “Understanding why children engage in bad behavior is critical to curbing it”, illustrates Harvey Karp, M.D, a pediatrician and author of the book and DVD “The Happiest Toddler On The Block”. In that case, there is a lot to be learned about the cause of misbehavior.
The lives of everyone in the town of Springfield Oregon changed on May 21st of 1998. A quiet boy named Kip Kinkel became known as “The Killer at Thurston High” after killing both of his parents, murdering two classmates, and severely injuring 24 others. There are many factors in the 15 year old boy’s life that led up to the horrific events that occurred on that day. The same factors that influenced the tragedy in occurring could have very easily insured that it never happened to begin with.
April 20th, 1999, Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado, experienced a mass shooting. Thirteen people were injured and more than twenty were injured. Twelve were students and one was a teacher. Two students, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold opened fire on their high school for forty one minutes before turning their guns on themselves and committing suicide. School shootings are notorious for making headline news but in 1999, school shooting were not as prevalent as they are in the present day. The media blew up on the catastrophe that was Columbine and many questions were raised, who were these kids and why did they do this? Speculation arose about why they did it. Maybe they were bullied for being goth and social outcasts or maybe they
Although I grew up with both my parents, my dad was working a 12 hour shift, so he could provide for all his children. Even though I had the love of both my parents, I chose to hang out with my neighbors most of the day. The neighborhood I lived in was full of drugs, violence, and money. I wasn’t really into the violence part. My dad was working all day just so we could have the things we required. I didn’t want to waist our family’s money so I would never ask my Mom or Dad for any. I started hustling anything I had or could get my hands on. It was a bad decision but at the time I wasn’t thinking about the consequences. I was just trying to get my hands on a lot of money. I started robbing places and people, and ended up getting arrested a couple times. Before I started to realize that in the long run, it would turn out for the worst. The first time I got arrested, I didn’t even care. I just wanted to get done with the process of everything, and get back to what I was doing. My mind was set to think “Damn how could you make a silly mistake, and get caught like that.” My mother was totally shocked when she found out that I was getting into trouble, because I hadn’t gotten any complains from school for bad behavior, or bad grades, and I had never let my mom know that I was doing all these useless stuff. Ultimately I got sent to boarding school and now have completely switched up my life. My environment was having a big affect on my life. I learned from my mistakes and I am making a better future for myself. I don’t regret much because, I have gained so much knowledge from the wrong things I did in my life. The author Wes Moore had a change of environment and influences and turned out in a different situation, than the other Wes moor...
This story makes the reader wonder, why must parents do this to their children, what kinds of motifs do they have for essentially ruining their child’s life. I believe
As the world recovers from recent school shootings, people wondered why these events have occurred. They are focused on drug use, violent society, video games, bullying, and mental issues to try and explain an unexplainable event. The idea that a person would shoot others for little or no reason gave little relief to the survivors.
The movie begins with the family and parenting styles concept of child development by introducing the audience to the main character James and his parents. James lives in a two-parent household with his authoritative parents who are providing him with warmth, love, and encouragement (Levine & Munsch, pp. 521-522). This concept of parenting styles is shown as the movie begins and James is seen spending time with his parents. Then suddenly, James’ world changes and he is abandoned as a result of his parents being killed. This causes James to become orphaned and forced to live with his authoritarian aunts, Spiker and Sponge. Aunt Spiker and Aunt Sponge are very controlling towards James and expect him to obey their rules without allowing him to express his feelings. This authoritarian behavior is seen throughout the movie. Aunt Spiker and Aunt Sponge are also uninvolved, neglectful, and abusive, using verbal and physical punishment on James when they feel it’s necessary, which is also seen throughout the movie (Levine & Munsch, p. 522). These behaviors cause James to develop lower self-esteem, show less intellectual curiosity, and feel lonely and afraid, which are typical outcomes of an authoritarian parenting approach (Levine & Munsch, pp. 521-523). Although James’ aunts’ authoritative parenting style has an effect on his emotional and social behaviors, it is his parents authoritative parenting that plays a...
The Columbine Shootings were one of the greatest tragedies that the nineties faced; and changed the world that was once known. The fault for this tragedy falls on popular culture, moral climate, and the parents of the shooters; not the shooters themselves. Society has greatly affected the minds of the youth, and viewing violence on television, video games, and on the internet, has planted a negative seed of thought in their minds.
The Millers appear to be permissive parents; therefore, the Millers seem to support Kevin in his behavior and his maladaptive ways of coping. Permissive parents are high on warm; subsequently, they are low in setting demands, rules, and guidelines. Kevin is obliviously gifted and talented, and
On April 16th, 2007 Cho had created one of the most deadly school shootings in America. ( "Virginia Tech Shootings Fast Facts." CNN.) It was unfathomable to think that in the close future, America would encounter many more detrimental school shootings. This is including the shooting of elementary students in Newtown, CT where Adam Lanza had shot and killed 27 children and faculty. Lanza had been known to have significant health issues that had kept him from living a normal life. (Sanchez, Ray, Chelsea J. Carter in Atlanta, Yon Pomrenze in New York, and The CNN New York Bureau Staff. ) Both of these shooters had killed themselves shortly after their attacks. School violence has become a nation-wide issue.
On April 20, 1999, within the tiny, suburban city of Littleton, Colorado, two high-school seniors, Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris, enacted a full-scale assault on columbine high school throughout the middle of the school day. The boys' idea was to kill many of their colleagues. With guns, knives, and a large number of bombs, the two boys walked the hallways and killed. Once the day was done, twelve students, one teacher, as well as the two murderers were dead; and 21 of them were wounded. The haunting question remains: why did they decide to do this?
The stand or fall of social environment has a strong impact on the formation of a child’s behavior. Wes P had begun selling drugs, which was making him plenty of money. He explained his cash flow and expensive purchases by telling his mother he had become a successful DJ in the neighborhood. “ Tony found his younger brother and asked for an explanation for the learning tower of Nikes. Wes stuttered out a story: he’d became a popular DJ and was making incredible loot DJing parties.”(69) While Mary believed him, Tony did not. One day he came by the house and noticed Wes P’s room had changed a lot, and a tower of new shoe boxes convinced Tony that Wes had gotten into the drug game. Under the influence of society and vanity, Wes P chose a wrong to making money to sell drug. Throughout the current juvenile crime is visiting trend and the situation of the children more and more to discipline. I believe that in addition to the existing school education way and the modern social development also does not adapt and family education also has a larger error, largely due to social bad education caused by environment factor. Society environment is also equally important, and a good society environment is more conducive to the healthy growth of children, but no more important than family and school environment to the
Parental influences can negatively impact a child’s life. An example of this is in the novel
The story provides many sources for the boy's animosity. Beginning with his home and overall environment, and reaching all the way to the adults that surround him. However, it is clear that all of these causes of the boy's isolation have something in common, he has control over none of these factors. While many of these circumstances no one can expect to have control over, it is the culmination of all these elements that lead to the boy’s undeniable feeling of lack of control.