Essay On Pearl High School Shooting

The shootings that occurred at Kent State University, Ohio, on May 4, 1970 have been a dark spot in American history for almost 36 years. It is a day remembered by many names, THE KENT STATE SHOOTINGS, MAY 4 or the KENT STATE MASSACRE. Four students were killed and nine were wounded, all of America suffered.

Not one person from Sandy Hook, Connecticut ever thought this sort of event would ever happen. On December 14, 2012, 20-year-old Adam Lanza fatally shot twenty children and six adult staff members in a mass murder at Sandy Hook Elementary School. Before the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, Lanza shot and killed his mother, Nancy Lanza, at his home in Newtown, Connecticut. After the shooting, Lanza successfully committed suicide before he was detained. Which left, the state, officials, and the entire country to question why Lanza would do such a horrible act of violence to innocent children and staff members of the school. Also, questioning the security of schools, and even our country. There are many conspiracies of the

To be afraid is no less an innate behavior than to be hungry. To find relief we look to fill ourselves with comfort and content, but there will always be hunger, and there will always be fear. We as human beings cannot control our surroundings, and with them the fear that hides underneath and in-between. We cannot escape the feeling of fear or its constant pestering, but we may control how we react to it. Those affected by the unspeakable events at Sandy Hook Elementary School in December of 2012 have come face to face with terror, many sweet and innocent souls coming so close as to shake hands with death. Closely following responses of differing viewpoint and opinion ensued, regarding what had happened and what is to be done in the future.

When parents dropped off their kids at Sandy Hook Elementary School they had no idea that they would never see their children ever again. On that day, Adam Lanza burst into the school that day killing 26 innocent people, 20 of which were children. None of those families had any idea that that day their lives would change forever. Sandy Hook Shooting has changed the way people lived and the way people sees the world.

Cullen, Dave. “The Depressive and the Psychopath: The FBI’s Analysis of the Killers Motives” The Columbine Alamac (20 April 2004)

Thirteen people were killed at Columbine High School in 1999, thirty-three died during the Virginia Tech shooting in 2007, and twenty-seven people, twenty of whom were children no older than seven, were killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012 (Kirk). These name only a few of the larger and most well-known school shooting incidences. In total, 297 people have lost their lives due to school-based shootings since 1980 (Kirk). Although this number may be small in comparison to death by guns overall, these instances are completely unwarranted and it is likely that they could have been avoided or at the very least reduced. These people, college and high school students, teachers, and even children, might still be alive today if our

Six years later in Pearl, Mississippi, Assistant Principal Joel Myrick was walking to his office when he heard the distinct sounds of gunfire in his school. His instincts were to grab his sidearm. However, federal laws banned him from carrying it on school property (Laugesen, 2007). He watched as the gunman leveled his rifle at students and pulled the trigger. As soon as the gunman heard the sounds of approaching emergency responders, he proceeded with his plan by attempting to flee the high school and make his way to the nearby middle school. While police were dealing with the situation at the high school, he would have the freedom to inflict more deaths (Laugesen, 1999). However, in a heroic act, Myrick had run to his truck to retrieve his handgun, hoping he would not have to use it on a student. As the gunman was fleeing in his mother’s car, Myrick leveled his gun at the shooter and caused him to lose control of the vehicle (Laugesen, 1999). In the heat and adrenaline rush of the moment, a properly trained person was able to save untold lives that day at the middle school and possibly other locations. While he was waiting for law enforcement to arrive, emotions could have justified him pulling the trigger, but his training and moral compass

In the United States of America the right to bear arms gave birth to a phenomenon called the “gun culture,” the term coined in 1970 by a historian Richard Hofstadter, which describes America’s heritage and affection for weapons(1). Not only did gun culture become an inseparable part of American democracy, but also it is considered to be synonymous with independence and freedom, the most important values for American society. Even though the crime rate and murder rate in the U.S. is higher than in any other developed country, U.S. citizens oppose every attempt made to pass gun control legislation(2). However, it may sound like a paradox, but the crime level in the most liberal states, when it comes to gun ownership, is the lowest in the

Some of the most infamous acts of terror on American soil took place on numerous campuses across the nation. School shootings, like Sandy Hook and Columbine, have started to become an ordinary event seen on the news, which causes a numb reaction in the hearts of countless Americans. According to an article written by AJ Willingham and Saeed Ahmed, from CNN, “...30 deadliest shootings in the United States dating back to 1949, 18 have occurred in the last 10 years.” In all of these cases, the news will give the attacker the attention they so dearly crave and always giving the same justification “they were mentally ill”. This one phrase reflects on all of those who also are affected by mental illness, does this make them corrupt like these terrorists?

     “That could never happen in my school.” This is one of the first thoughts that goes through a students mind when they hear about a school shooting. The fact is though, it can. School shootings can happen at any school at any time. Lack of security is only a small part of the problem. The major issue lies in the low morality of students and warning signs overlooked by administration.

There is an assumption that if you understand the minds of serial killers, or persons who commit mass shootings, that it may help prevent mass shootings. “Mass shootings are not on the rise, but have held steady over three decades, randomly clustering in time to trick our brains into finding a pattern of increase where none actually exists” (Shermer 3). Mass shootings happen at varying times without rhyme or reason. Some think that a psychological disorder or some genetic defect could be the reason people commit these crimes. Although we cannot prevent mass shootings, we can educate on how mental health issues can be a precursor to such a tragedy, and how better laws can create a safer environment.

I will never forget the day that I completed my Eagle Project. After spending almost two years of organizing paperwork, gathering donations, and getting people prepared to tackle the project, it was finally done. It was just how I pictured it. A park, Emilie's Park. Two years before then, however, marks a day I wish I could forget.

Research in school shootings have been administered in many categories, including sociology, psychology, and etc. past studies, and direct later studies in school shootings, offers a sociology stand point for understanding the differences of school shooting incidents, including rampage shootings, mass murders shootings, and examining the mass media dynamic of school shootings; as well as presenting a combination of causes said in the research, including those on the individual, community, and social levels. Suggestions for studies in the future in school shootings are still yet to be explored.

On Tuesday, April 20 1999, Columbine High School located in Columbine Colorado an unfortunate massacre happened and many teens lost their lives. The two students responsible for this incident were Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold. These two senior students were responsible for killing twelve students and one teacher; they were also responsible for injuring an additional twenty one students on their rampage. A few other students were injured while trying to escape the school. Columbine is considered the fourth deadliest school massacre in history. It was said to be that there was not one target but everyone was a target on Eric and Dylan’s rampage through the high school

On February 29, 2000, six year old first grader Dedrick Owens reportedly fired a .32-caliber semiautomatic handgun into a group of students at Buell Elementary School, near Flint, Michigan, killing classmate Kayla Renee Rolland, also six. The youngest known school shooter in history, Owens was not charged for the killing, due to an 1893 U.S. Supreme Court Ruling which states that children under seven cannot be found guilty of felony. Jamelle James, a nineteen year old man who was living in the same house as Owens, was charged and pleaded no contest to involuntary manslaughter, for leaving the gun within the boy's reach. James spent two and a half years in prison. In this case, it was less a murder and more of a curiosity gone wrong. If you leave a gun in front of a six year old, they are going to take it and tragically in this case he also used it. (Duke, 2004)