My high school was like any other, and within its walls, you could find the standard division of teen culture played out in three main categories: the popular kids, the nerds & the metal heads. Though the names of each clique may change from one generation to the next, the roles remain the same. On April 20, 1999, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold made history when they beseiged their high school in the deadliest massacre ever recorded in United States history for an American high school. In the aftermath of Columbine, the writings and videos left behind by the shooters made it clear that they were enraged by the low-level position imposed on them by the upper echelon of their classmates. With limited supervision in our public schools, kids are virtually free to create their own class society. This system of division is the epitome of savagery, creating a "survival of the fittest" atmosphere.
In my school, the popular kids, otherwise known as the jocks or preps were at the top of the food chain. They were the star football players, cheerleaders and homecoming queens. They were the most attractive, most competitive, and most social of the other groups. The boys wore blue jeans with rolled cuffs and t-shirts with their letterman jackets, and the girls wore skirts with patterned stockings, matching sweaters and sequined hair accessories. This group was the most highly regarded by the adults in the school, and were often given special perks like preferred parking spots. Oozing with school spirit, they were the pride and joy of the school (and the whole town). Most of the kids in this group were bright, well-adjusted, and happy as they strove to do their best to conform, and to meet the expectations of their parents, coach...
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... for some, drugs, as a form of entertainment. We were resented by everyone on campus and considered losers.
As someone relegated to the outer fringes of the social structure, I can attest to the oppressive nature of teen culture. It was a virtual prison, limiting those deemed unworthy of the ability to have pride in oneself, and to strive to be our best. Upon graduation, I distinctly remember the feeling that a black cloud had been lifted from me, my shackles were crushed. No longer subject to my lower-class position, I was free to be the master of my own domain. The funny thing is that our success in life did not seem to be affected by which group we were a part of in high school. If I could give a word of advice to someone being oppressed by rank in their school, I would tell them to work hard and have patience, the sweetest revenge is found in success.
High School as teenagers as the century was about to turn, they could have easily morphed into Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris, taking innocent lives in a society that breeds contempt – if looking for it.
The Geeks Shall Inherit The Earth is a book by Alexandra Robbins which summarizes the story of seven different teenagers that have many different problems, which many of todays teenagers also have. I found myself having many similarities to the teenagers in the story, for example, when with her group Whitney, the popular bitch, thinks “You didn't day that when we were alone, but now that you're in front of a group you do” (Robbins 21). I can relate to this because I feel as though many people are pressured to say or do things they normally wouldn't whenever they are with their group or ‘clique’. Robbins has this idea that the freaks and geeks, or “cafeteria fringe” will someday grow up and use what they are criticized for to become more successful than the other peopler people. She calls this the ‘Quirk Theory’ (Robbins page 11). This helped me to learn that right now, in high school, not being ‘popular’ may seem like the end of the world, but the reality of it is that after these four years, it wont even matter, but what will be important is how you learned to grow as a person and the true friendships that were made. This makes me want to focus more on my education and learning to grow as a person instead of focusing on how many friends I have or who I sit with at lunch, because truthfully it wont matter once high school is over.
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
"In October 1997, a 16-year old in Pearl, Mississippi, first killed his mother and then went to school and shot nine students, two fatally; in December 1997 a 14-year old went to his school in West Paducah, Kentucky, killed three students and wounded five others; in March last year, two boys, aged eleven and thirteen, killed four girls and a teacher outside their school in Jonesboro, Arkansas; the next month a science teacher was shot dead, allegedly by a 14-year old, at a school dance in Edinsboro, Pennsylvania; last May in Fayetteville, Tennessee, an 18-year old student allegedly shot dead a classmate in the school car park; two days later, in Springfield, Oregon, a 15-year old opened fire at his high school, killing two teenagers and wounding more than twenty (police later found that his parents had been killed at home) ("Lesson"). On April 20th of this year, two teenagers enter their school and open fire, killing 12 students and one teacher before taking their own lives.
In many high schools, there is an unspoken social order amongst peer groups; teenagers are either included in the popular group or the unpopular group. These social standings are determined by the popular group whether they will accept certain people based on shared interests and values but mainly on appearance. For example, some groups may isolate a student who does not have clothing considered attractive enough. Teenagers belonging to the popular clique label individuals as outcasts who do not fit the clique’s standards of a perfect appearance. This repression can cause a build up of anger if an outcast seeks to be accepted into that popular group.
The columbine massacre the day where no one is safe in school or out of school. The columbine massacre is about two students named Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris both seniors 17 years old both two weeks before graduating they killed 12 students, one teacher, and 21 injured to their shooting on April 20, 1999. Both Dylan and Eric were some believe they were bullied by the sport teams in their school so they planned to kill the people who bullied them and other mostly anyone who gets in their way but that wasn’t really why the FBI he said that there target was everyone no one in pacify we will not get in to more details now. Dylan and Eric were both intelligent boys with solid parents and a good home and both had brothers younger than them. They played soccer, baseball, and both enjoyed to work on computers. Both boys were thinking on commit suicide on 1997 but instead started to plan a massacre in 1998 a year before it happened. Then the two boys had got into some trouble for breaking into a van on January 30, 1998 trying to steal some fuses and wires for bombs for them to make, but they got caught in trouble. So the court put them in a program called the juvenile diversion program, but even if they were there they were still planning the massacre and the court also put Eric in some angry management classes and people believe it worked but it didn’t he just did it to look like it work and both boys made it look like they were really sorry but they weren’t. Dylan and Eric both really hated everyone in their school and the court as well after they got caught breaking in to that van that’s when they really started to plan the massacre more and that’s when Harris started he’s journals no one really knows way but they didn’t hate a hand...
The high schools are made up of cliques and the artificial intensity of a world defined by insiders and outsiders. (Botstein pg.20) The insiders hold control. over the outsiders because of good looks, popularity, and sports power; the teacher. and staff do nothing to stop them, the elite.
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.
Recent studies show that high school students no longer only talk to, and/or become friends with the stereotypical cheerleader, jock, or band geek that they are, but rather look much farther than that. Maybe a quarterback does not understand his algebra class, and his nerd of a classmate wants to learn how to throw a perfect spiral for physics. Tradeoff. The quarterback asks the nerd to help him, and visa-versa. Wait a minute. They actually had fun together, and are now fr...
The town of Glenridge is at the surface not any different than any other surburban American town. Like most towns it has its “cliques” and the “jocks” are at the pinnacle of the town. Idolized by the students and a sourse of pride for the entire town, however the Glenridge boys were not like most high school athletes. The “Jock clique” formed at a very early age,and invaded their surroundings taking over where ever they went, whether it be school, games or around town, protected by the “boys will be boys” attitude held by the rest of the town.
The news of Columbine was all over the TV, newspapers, and in every social aspect of life. This left parents no choice but to discuss the incident with their children. After Columbine, there seemed to be more and more reports of school violence, more shooting, bombings, and knives being brought to school. As much as parents would like to protect their kids from hearing any of this they can't and the kids come home with questions. The more the kids hear the more they fear; after Columbine 41% of teens in a nation wide survey became afraid for their safety at school. Kids are now scared to go to school and their parents are scared to let them. Kids are now skipping school and pretending to be sick; not because they have a test or because they don't like their teacher. They a scared that something might happen to them. In a nation wide survey placed by www.usaweekend.com, 91% have seen kids get picked on, 85% have seen them argue loudly, 74% have seen physical fights, 29% have been threatened physically, 25% have been hit, 14% have been...
There are many different types of school violence. The one that gets the most public attention is school shootings. The term school shooting is basically defined as an act where a student, school staff member, or intruder from the outside commits an act on the school campus. One of the most well known school shootings took place at Columbine High School near Littleton, Colorado. On a Tuesday April 20,1999, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, students at Columbine High School, took the lives of thirteen other students before taking the lives of their own. When we think of events like this, we have many questions that go through our mind. Thoughts like why did this happen, could it have been prevented, and how did impact the individuals involved just to name a few. There are probably several more thoughts that go through the minds of a nation when we hear about traumatic evens such as a school shooting.
According to theories about popularity, popularity is a selective process that must happen for children to be included in a specific group. These groups are usually looked up upon other students although they may be vocally talked down upon. Many adolescents may make fun of other “clicks” when interpersonally they would like to be part of it. Children drive on status, which is automatically given to them if they are associated with a popularity group. Popularity has a large impact on children of all ages and once children realize the concept of popularity, they want it. Within the study, two questions are asked. How is popularity related to the behavior of obtaining it and how the behavior of becoming popular affects the actual outcome of it? There may be specific behaviors that are associated with becoming popular or having popularity as a very specific goal that a student wants. Aggression and popularity perception have both been grouped together when tr...
“People are so unaware...well, Ignorance is bliss I guess… that would explain my depression.” (Klebold, Dylan). With that sentence, I divulged myself into the most horrendous, sad journal I have ever read, hoping to gain some insight into a disturbed young man’s mind. On April 20th, 1999, Dylan Klebold accompanied his friend, Eric Harris, in one of the most publicized and shocking school shootings of the modern day--The Columbine Massacre. With their sawed-off shotguns and godlike dispositions, the boys exacted their revenge not only on their peers, but on themselves. As the nightmare collapsed, and thirteen people lay dead, the questions began. How could two boys so young commit this crime? What forced them to be this way? For the Klebold family, one question remained: How had Dylan become involved in one of the crimes of the century?
School shootings are becoming common place in the news as school violence is on the rise. Statistics state that 31.2 percent of parents said the leading cause for choosing homeschool over public school is “concern about the environment of other schools” (Burke, 2014). According to the CDC fact sheet Understanding School Violence, 12 percent of youth in grades 9-12 report being in a physical fight on school property while 5.9 percent reported that they felt unsafe at school and did not attend. Seven percent of teachers also report that they have been threatened or injured by a student (School Violence, 2013). While only 1 percent of all youth homicides occur at schools, violence does not need to result in a fatality in order to be a concern.