Columbine Dialectical Journal

There were a number of communication issues, and these issues related to the poor initial assessments of the incident. As previously mentioned, the usage of differing communication technologies created issues. Additionally, the unfamiliarity of the type of incident created misperceptions, as school shootings weren’t common. The fire department chief thought the paralyzed individual was a victim of a drive-by shooting, while the Sheriff Deputy thought the victim was in a car accident. Ray Rahne, the Littleton Fire Department Battalion Chief, didn’t know about the firefights on the other side of the school. If Rahne knew, perhaps Harris and Klebold could have been stopped before more bloodshed occurred. Rahne called for police assistance, but none came. Medical personnel did not have bulletproof vests, and they could not communicate on the radio system with other

Robyn, unknowingly helped the boys acquire 3 of the 4 guns used in the Columbine massacre. Dylan and Eric were not old enough to buy the guns themselves, but Dylan’s prom date, Robyn was. Dylan and Eric made her swear she wouldn’t tell their parents about the guns which made her a little suspicious as to why they needed them, but “she adored Dylan enough to believe Eric’s story about using them to hunt.” She was careful not to sign any papers because of her suspicions so the guns couldn’t be traced back to her. After the massacre Robyn was interviewed and “confessed to strong suspicions” about Dylan and Eric and what they were using the guns for.

On April 20, 1999, the unimaginable occurred at Columbine High School in the small town of Littleton, Colorado. A school shooting, perpetrated by, then senior students, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold took the entire community by storm. With 15 deaths, including the perpetrators, and 24 non-fatal injuries, the memories of this horrific massacre will forever resonate in minds of all. With a meticulously, thought out plan, the two shooters prepared guns and bombs before performing the sickening act. Families, the FBI, local officials, psychologists,

“Well, I know it ain't Eli or Henry,” said Nancy, “they rode off to the North Country, this morning.”

In the novel "Columbine" by Dave Cullen, Cullen addresses one of the worst acts of terrorism to ever happen in the nation. Cullen wrote this book to inform readers about what led to such a disturbing act and what the gunman's motive for committing such an act of crime. Cullen talks about the life of the high school before the shooting and he also discusses the lives of the two shooters pre-massacre. Cullen's purpose is to help readers understand and go in depth about how the school before, during, and after the shooting. This information will most likely not be talked about by news sources.

Journal number one is about the pre-planning and the execution of the killings. Dylan and Eric murdered half of the school at the massacre of columbine. They were crazy. They had been planning for about a year so they were very well organized and had it planned very well. The bombs didn't go off that they had set, but if they had they would have killed everyone in the school. Including themselves. The two boys murdered everyone they had their chance too, besides their friends.

Columbine High School Shooting: Why did Columbine occur and what can be learned from it?

There are multiple details that stood out as particularly true to life in my view. One was the nariartator that it is telling the story/ his view point main character mentions what check out aisle number. It mentions how the three girls looked. The character payed attention to how the girl that seem to be the leader was walking saying “she came down a little hard on her heels, as if she didn’t walk in her bare feet much” this quote helps you picture how the person and might help picture what the girl was walking like. He gave details to where he was and what he was doing when the three girls was doing. He mentions that “I’m in the third check-out slot with my back to the door so that I didn’t see them until they had reach the bread” this helps the reader to set up an mental image of the store as they are reading.

As Logan and I sat at the intersection between Arrowhead Road and Midway, we waited for a text as the cars flashed past us. That was where we sat in the heated truck, waiting for a girl to give us the go ahead to come pick her up. We were jamming out to “Just What I Needed” by the Cars.

By this time Klebold and Harris had both taken their life and at least 75 police officers were surrounding Columbine High School. About two hours later, the SWAT team entered the east side of the building finding injured victims waiting for assistance. Teacher David Sanders was shot and had been bleeding for three hours before getting help (Kohn). “Sanders was the last of 15 people to die at Columbine that day. Twenty-three wounded were taken to hospitals. Six had brain or spinal injuries. Several nearly bled to death. Doctors at six hospitals worked on wounded children all through the night, and saved every one of them.” (Kohn).

This shooting was the worst in United States history, and it left families speechless and people in disarray. Two teens committed the treacherous actions of that day. The speculations were that they did this because of bullying, goth culture, or music or video games; these though were all just theories and were never proven(history). After this event, schools, venues, and events have endured grand security increases in the danger of shooters or other violence. Throughout my school days, I have wondered why we do the silly lock down drills at school, but in reality, lives could be saved in the event of an actual attack on my school. I realized this my eight grade year at Guntown Middle School. There was an unidentified man on campus, a code red lock down would amerce. I still remember sitting under my desk, shaking, and almost to tears. I did not want to be remembered as just another statistic if it was a shooter. But it had been our lucky day, the man who had stirred up all the commotion was just looking for the school’s office. Those fears I experienced however, would stay with me. We all believe that we are invincible and that it would never be us. However, with the world as it is today, no one is safe. I have been affected by the Columbine shooting through security changes in schools that I

The first misconception is that the social cliques that occur in high schools across the nation has a role in this tragedy. Columbine is not simply a school shooting but is rather a shooting that the gunmen chose the school as their tool. School shooters tend to act impulsively and attack the targets of their rage mainly the students and faculty. Harris and Klebold planned for a year and dreamed much bigger. The school served as a means to a grander end, to terrorize the entire nation by attacking a symbol of American life. The shooters talk in numerous video tapes about their act being bigger than the Oklahoma city bombings. They boasted about making sure there bloody performance was bigger and more memorable. Klebold is particular was quoted as bragging about inflicting “the most deaths in U.S. history. Columbine was

why Columbine was so big was because of the killing of so many harmless teenagers. It

They savagely murder thirteen high school students and staff, and before ending their own lives in the library, injure many more such as Patrick Ireland, who was shot in the head yet somehow, clinging to life, managed to survive and graduate as valedictorian the next year. Cassie Bernall, one of the Columbine students who was murdered by Dylan Klebold, was long regarded as a martyr, yet it was actually another high school student, Columbine survivor Valeen Schnurr, was the one who was actually asked if she believed in God by Dylan. When Valeen said yes, she was shot by Dylan and survived, later telling her story to others. Coach Dave Sanders, who was shot during the initial attack, survived for a few hours before succumbing to blood loss. His family sued the police as it was shown he could’ve been saved by S.W.A.T but wasn’t.

Humanity has always oppressed and discriminated against one another since the beginning of time. Never at a point in history has everyone been completely equal in their civil rights and treatment. Whether the discrimination stems from the color of one’s skin to their religious beliefs to anything that separates them from the larger population, a target has been placed upon them for others to attack. In this paper I will investigate how Desmond Tutu’s statement on oppression relates to primary texts that I viewed during the course of this semester.