school shootings

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“Kill me, please. I can’t believe I did that.” These were the chilling words of Michael Carneal, a fourteen year old boy who massacred a group of students in a prayer circle at his school (Johnson). Many cases of school shootings show students distressed and sometimes incapacitated by certain mental diseases that cause them to lose conscious control of their actions, such as Carneal who was later diagnosed with schizophrenia (Johnson). Many more cases however, are perpetrated by students suffering from severe depression or extreme psychosis. Nine out of ten shooters surveyed were depressed and/or experiencing suicidal thoughts (Toppo). “Research shows that people who carry out school shootings are usually social outcasts, full of rage, and show little signs of remorse or regret during their crimes,” (Johnson). One of the most famous school shootings was the 1999 massacre at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado, in which 15 people were killed and 24 injured by two high school students (Timeline of Shootings). One of the shooters, Dylan Klebold, was later discovered to be a severely depressed and miserable youth, whereas his partner Eric Harris was discovered to be a psychopath with a strong superiority complex and need for control (Toppo). The rate of occurrence of school shootings is steeply on the rise, correlating with an increasing rate of teen depression and suicide. 4,600 youths (ages 10-24) committed suicide in the last year, and 45% used a firearm (Center for Disease Control and Prevention). Often, the people who start school shootings are bullied, depressed, or previously suicidal. The FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin reports that about 75% of school shooters commit suicide (Pete, Martindale, Nichols). The sho... ... middle of paper ... ...aspects are depicted unrealistically and inaccurately. Though she depicted the overwhelming fear and panic of a shooting, as well as a common, believable case of circumstances leading up to the shooting, it seemed highly unlikely that the main character, who took a bullet for another classmate, would be despised and outcast by almost every other character. However, the novel did cause the reader to truly feel Valerie’s pain, and to understand the absolute horror that a school shooting brings to the students, teachers, school, and community. The frequency of school shootings has gotten out of hand. How many more stories like Valerie’s will it take for the American public to realize what prevalent an issue school violence is? How many more children will have to be murdered until their peers can go to school without a significant fear of not making it home that day?

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