Columbine and other school shootings

Columbine and other School Shootings

Alexandria Serapiglia & Tanya Serapiglia

Timeline of Worldwide School Shootings --- and another TIMELINE

Shootings SINCE Sandy Hook

10 Years later -- the story behind Columbine

10 Worst School Massacres - in the world

10 Worst School Massacres - in USA

Columbine Massacre

Victims of Columbine

Victims of Sandy Hook 

The White and Privileged

School Shootings and White Denial

"White men from prosperous families grow up with the expectation that our voices will be heard. We expect politicians and professors to listen to us and respond to our concerns. We expect public solutions to our problems. And when we’re hurting, the discrepancy between what we’ve been led to believe is our birthright and what we feel we’re receiving in terms of attention can be bewildering and infuriating. Every killer makes his pain another’s problem. But only those who’ve marinated in privilege can conclude that their private pain is the entire world’s problem with which to deal. This is why, while men of all races and classes murder their intimate partners, it is privileged young white dudes who are by far the likeliest to shoot up schools and movie theaters."

A Cycle of Outrage (Reflection) - Gilbert

A Cycle of Outrage
Americas Reaction to the Juvenile Delinquent in the 1950
By: James Gilbert
REFLECTION

First id like to start with, I think this was an AWFUL READ.  I hate the fact that society at this time puts a stereotype on all adolescents as being delinquents due to their appearance and/or social class and race.  It is unfair to put a label on adolescents that you don't know but assume they are trouble due to the neighborhood they live in, their clothing, or the color of their skin.  All of this stereotyping, I believe, is the main reason why kids rebel.  They cannot go to school they like, walk down the street in a group, color their hair purple because they like it, wear baggy jeans because thats what they are comfortable in, without getting a label from society.  And also I hate the fact that its focused around pre and post war.  Adolescents then and now will always act and be the same.  THEY ARE FIGURING OUT WHAT LIFE IS ALL ABOUT, with room to make mistakes and still have the time to fix them.

To relate myself to this article and pick out every piece that annoyed me I am going to blabber on a little bit, and hopefully not bore you with my own experiences but this one quote really bothered me, 

"Many parents and experts worried about the youth culture rampaging through large urban comprehensive schools because they associated it more with lower-class values"(pg.18)

Growing up I went to public schools and I absolutely loved it.  My 9th grade year my mother wanted me to transfer to LaSalle due to the trouble some kids were getting into in my high school (even though I wasn't).  Just to please her, knowing I was DEFINITELY NOT going to go there, I agreed to go shadow a friend for two days. I absolutely hated it.  Walking in the halls felt like I was surrounded by cookie cutter robots.  Everyone had to look the same, talk the same, and being in uniform teens had no way to express themselves, it was boring, almost black and white.  Long story short I stayed at Johnston High and I am just fine. And come to find out after leaving high school the majority of my friends (or friends of friends) who went to LaSalle ended up on the wrong path after high school because growing up they had to follow rules and guidelines and never had the time to explore life when teens are supposed to create and express themselves.

To get back to the all adolescents are delinquents due to there appearance really bothers me also. I witnessed it first hand for myself... I had many different groups of friends in high school - girls I played sports with, girls that I became friendly with (and just so happen to still be my best friends), and a group of students that were considered "emo", wore all black, dark lipstick, wallet-chains, and had funky color hair and haircuts.  Whenever I was seen with that group of friends people, even my parents, automatically assumed they were trouble, they didn't do well in school, they were aggressive and hateful, etc..  It just so happens that they never got in trouble, they were the nicest, accepting group of peers I have ever associated myself with.  And Oh Yea!! I left out, they loved rock n' roll - they were not "undisciplined"like society may say they were.  

To close my rambling, why did society even create these movies that showed violence, sexual behavior, and delinquent behavior if they don't want adolescents to act this way.  I believe all that does is open up the door for more of the behaviors that they don't want teens to recreate.  Kids will be kids, you will never be able to change a society as a whole therefore society should not be judged as a whole.

Adolescents act the way they do, due to the fact that they are constantly being told who they have to "become", as Raby said in her article.  They are constantly nagged and told not what to do and once a teen is told they aren't supposed to do something over and over and are completely placed in a bubble by their parents they are eventually going to rebel.  Adolescents need to make mistakes and learn from them, and the ones who don't learn are living the life that was set out for them to live. 


Below is a youtube video that I found a couple weeks ago, some of you may have already saw it.  Its not teens unfortunately but the fact that its elementary students makes it even worse.  If parents, schools, and society want to keep children and teens away from violence and acting in a delinquent manner then why was this so accepted by teachers and parents in the audience??????

It wont let me post it on here I tried 10 times so please click the link and watch :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uovMpapeCJQ

A Tangle of Discourses: Girls Negotiating Adolescence

A Tangle of Discourses: Girls Negotiating Adolescence
Rebecca C. Raby
REFLECTION

First I would like to start by saying I believe Raby was going in the right direction with her method of research, pinpointing teens at every judgmental aspect of these dominant discourses throughout the years. It was very interesting to see what teenagers had to say compared to their grandmothers and vise-versa.  It opened my eyes to how much pressure and confusion that teens experience in this "panoptic time" - referring to adolescent entrapment.

Getting back to the discourses... Raby focused on five main discourses - "the storm", "becoming", "at-risk", "social problem", and "pleasurable consumption".  The discourse that triggered my attention was "at-risk".  Raby lists the specific risks as, "drugs and alcohol, depression, eating disorders, sexual diseases, and an economy that does not need/want untrained workers".  When i was reading this section of the article it may be off topic but I thought to myself...Yes, teens experience these factors that may lead them to using and abusing drugs, alcohol, and disorders more at this point in life, but I believe that this category as "at-risk factors" shouldn't be labeled as a discourse for "teen" years because people will see many things and go through many experiences and tough times that may lead to any of these "risks" at different points in their life.  

Most certainly teens will feel pressured into drugs and sex as it is their time for fitting in.  I believe the only reason behind it being labeled as "at-risk" is because today it is happening much sooner than it is when i was a teen and they also do not fully understand consequences to their actions of these risks at this point.  As I look back at my own life throughout this stage I will most certainly admit that i definitely juggled with many risks, but most of the time it was to regulate other peoples/friends behaviors.  I wanted to fit it, I wanted to be cool and its unfortunate that it is so much more present today that it was when I was a teen but it is setting them up for life because for some it may not get any easier they may always feel pressured into drugs, and sex but they now can learn from it and find ways to deal with this problem.

Another reason why this discourse will follow teens throughout their lives is because they will always experience depression at one time or another, which for people who cannot handle depression or pressure will fall on drugs or alcohol, and many other "at-risk" behaviors to numb the pain.  Eating disorders will always effect a person who doesn't feel comfortable with their self-image no matter age 13 or 30.  Teens feel more pressured to look skinny and compete with their peers to always look better than one another, but I go out and see 30-40 year old women who still are acting the way they label "teens" act.

Sex will follow teens throughout their life,.. The only difference at an older more mature age is you may be smarter and less "at-risk" to catch STD's or become pregnant.  I believe for boys, sex is much more looked at as a "thing to do"...and we all know that it doesn't stop at the TEEN years.  Girls at this point in life get emotionally hurt by sex because they do it out of strong feelings for a boy, or to feel liked and wanted.  Boys do it because they want a higher number than everyone else.  

Lastly i want to touch base on the economy.  I believe this is one thing that truly affects teens at this stage of life, but at least they are more prepared than we were when we were teens.  They are set up at their prime years - now in high school, just coming into college.  They have the heads up that they need to take things seriously, be successful and get a good college education to get a career and make something of themselves.  "We", or should I say myself didn't feel the need to take high school to seriously because I saw how easy it was for my older cousins/parents to get a job right from high school.  HENSE the why I am sitting as a college student at age 25 here with all of you..my though process was an epic fail.  The economy took a deep nose dive but I wouldn't look at it as a negative thing, I believe this is helping teens to mature faster, and set goals and plans for themselves so they don't have to backtrack through life at a later age.  Yes it causes them stress an pressure to mature and figure out what it is they want to do in life but I almost look at it as an advantage, a push of motivation to be better.

As these risk factors affect teens at a much younger age today, these "at-risk factors" could be reoccurring factors at a later age.  Instead of everyone looking at things in tunnel vision and in a  negative way they need to see that these teens are experiencing and going through everything that they once did throughout life when it became exposed to them. These risk factors will never fully go away.  They will be a problem throughout life.  The mature and responsible adults just learn how to ignore them and deal with them in a less detrimental manner.  

Drugs and eating disorders happen through all stages of life....teen years and adult years.

Teen

Adult

Teen

Adult

Do you feel as though these risk factors are the reason for teens to be "maturing" sooner? do you believe that problems caused during this stage will continue to follow them through life?

Unlearning the Myths That Bind Us : Linda Christensen

Unlearning the Myths That Bind Us

Linda Christensen

“Our society’s culture industry colonizes their minds and teaches them how to act, live, and dream.  This indoctrination hits young children especially hard”. (pg.126)

I strongly believe that young children are affected the most by society because at this point in their lives they are trying to create and conform themselves to the ideal “image” that is portrayed to them.  This is an unfortunate thing because they don’t even know who they are as a person at this age - it is easier for them to see and conform to stereotypes that are displayed throughout media, internet, and other peers in school then to genuinely be the person they want to be.  All children have available to them are a vision of what is right and accepted, they have no room for being able to think for themselves or create an image that is different than the ordinary because at this age they just want to fit in.

“It can be overwhelming and discouraging to find out my whole self image has been formed mostly by others or underneath my worries about what I look like are years of being exposed to TV images of girls and there set roles given to them by TV and the media”.

(pg.128-129)

The media will always conform to a stereotyped image of women.  Girls and women are known to be motivated by love and romance, they are shown less independent than boys, and are stereotyped according to their image such as their weight, hair color, and style. These mixed messages from media make it difficult for girls to convert into adulthood. Most of the time girl’s confidence drops in their teen years as they begin to base their feelings of self-esteem more and more heavily on their appearance and body type, they will try anything to fit in or get close to the image of “barbie”.  I believe this is something that will never change.  It will always affect girls and women who are not as strong willed to be their own person and not care about the ideal female form.  I’ve been guilty for this at one point in my life.  As you get older you then realize what is important and what isn’t. If you cannot be yourself to find whatever it is your looking for than it is simply not worth it.  You should not feel like you have to change to be happy.

“I do not want students to believe that change can be bought at the mall, nor do I want them thinking that the pinnacle of a women’s life is an “I do” that supposedly leads them to a happily ever after.  I don’t want my female students to see their “sisters” as competition for that scarce and wonderful commodity”

(pg. 133)

Cinderella, Cinderalla.  Every young girls favorite childhood movie.  Looking back all my friends and I did were play princess dress up, talk about our princess weddings, and dream of living a happily ever after in our castles with handsome husbands and children to take care of in our own magical worlds.  Looking back its so crazy that we wanted/thought of those things at such a young age. Girls now believe in order to get all of the above their image has to resemble a princess.  How unrealistic especially for young girls moving into the awkward/unknown pre-teen stage of life.  The focus for many young girls has become their appearance and forgetting about their inner substance and many girls compete to be better than their peers….who has the nicer clothes, who is skinner…  Being exposed to these messages of perfection are harmful and negative and the only way they learn this is from television.  Will it ever change?